J.D. Hall 
Kentucky vs Ole Miss
WOW!! How about that game Saturday? Nobody was giving Kentucky and Mark Stoops any chance on the road in Oxford, Mississippi. Not against Lane Kiffin and the high powered offense that the #6 ranked Rebels were bringing into Vaught–Hemingway Stadium at Noon on Homecoming day. There was good reason for that. First let’s talk about that Ole Miss offense. They came into the game leading the country in total offense at 670 yards, passing offense at 422 yards per game and 11th in the country in rushing at 248 yards per game. Those are monstrous stats. Those stats are so monstrous that Ole Miss came into the game as the only team to ever produce over 600 yards in offense in 4 straight games. Not 4 straight games to start a season, any 4 straight games in a season. They were also leading the country in scoring at 55 points per game. All of those numbers added up to a huge mountain to climb to pull off the victory.
Now, let’s talk about the history of Kentucky in these kinds of games. Top 10 ranked teams on the road, SEC West teams (even former like Ole Miss now) on the road and SEC West teams overall. Going into this game, Kentucky was 1-34 in their last 35 games against top 10 ranked teams on the road with the one being against #9 Louisville last season. The last time that they won a game like that? 1977 against, coincidentally, #9 Penn State. Coach Stoops has also had a dubious record against SEC West teams. on the road, going 1-10 coming into this game with the first win coming just last season at Mississippi State. His overall record was 7-15. Numbers that don’t breed a lot of confidence in the ability to bring home a win. Couple that history, with what has been quite the roller coaster of a season, and that confidence was probably at an all-time low. Week 2, at home against a South Carolina team that struggled to beat Old Dominion the week before, confidence was high. That confidence was, quickly, stomped out when they lost 31-6 and looked woefully inept in that game.
Then they welcomed in #1 Georgia, but something changed. Yes, they ultimately lost that game 13-12, but they went toe-to-toe with the number 1 ranked team in the country. Now, that didn’t mean they were going to go to Oxford and pull out the win. Confidence from a large portion of the fan base was still low. But, what it did show was that there was a team in Lexington that COULD compete with the best teams in the country.
Then, the game started and Ole Miss drove right down the field and scored a TD. You could hear the fan base let out a, collective, “Here we go again.” Kentucky responded though, taking the ensuing kickoff and driving for 7:30 and kicking a field goal. It was only a field goal, but it seemed like it changed the momentum of the game, as Kentucky’s defense started to take over. What people expected to be a fast paced, explosive offense from Ole Miss, never transpired. Kentucky went into the half leading the #6 team in the country 10-7 and belief started to build.
The second half brought more of the same. Yes, Ole Miss began to move the ball better in the second half, but they weren’t able to take control of the game. They were able to tie the game at 10 with 9:44 left in the 3rd quarter, but Kentucky answered right back and retook the lead 13-10 on the very next drive. Belief was reaching a boiling point, especially when Kentucky had Ole Miss in a 4th and 7 from the UK 48 yard line. That belief would be doused with a heartbreaking 48 yard TD pass, giving Ole miss the lead going to the 4th quarter, 17-13.
The 4th quarter went much like the rest of the game had gone, with the teams trading punts, until Kentucky got the ball back with 4:48 to go in the game. We, were in this same position, just one week ago. Kentucky had the ball late in the game with a chance to beat Georgia. The drive got off to a less than great start ending up in 4th and 7 from their own 20 yard line. What was Stoops going to do this time? The week before, in 4th and 8 from the Georgia 48, with 3:04 to go in the game, he decided to punt it away to Georgia who, ultimately ran most of the clock out securing the win. This week, he decided to go for it, and what a decision that was! Brock Vandagriff hit Barion Brown down the sideline with a perfect pass for 63 yards to the Ole Miss 17 and the belief was back! Demi Sumo-Karngbe followed that up with an 11 yard run to the 6 yard line. In comes Gavin Wimsatt and it looks like he’s going in for the touchdown to take the lead, but he fumbles it. Any other game, that ball bounces to Ole Miss and the hearts of Kentucky fans and players are broken again. Not this time though, Josh Kattus is the man in the right spot, at the right time and plucks it out of the air, falling into the end zone for a touchdown and Kentucky has a 20-17 lead over the #6 team in the country with just 2:25 left on the clock.
2:25, such a short amount of time, but an eternity for a team that plays as fast as Ole Miss. The came into the game averaging a play every 22 seconds and they had all of their timeouts left and the 2 minute timeout. There might as well have been 6 minutes left on the clock. However, Kentucky’s defense was up to the challenge, getting Ole
Miss into a 3rd and 11. It appeared that Tre Harris made the catch for the first down, but upon review, the ball hit the ground without possession…4th down. Just one play, that was all that needed to be made and it was…by Ole Miss. Jaxson Dart, showed why he was a Heisman candidate coming into the game. He hit Caden Prieskorn down to the Kentucky 34. Was it happening again? JJ weaver did his best to make sure that it wasn’t happening again, sacking Dart at the 38, nearly forcing a fumble in the process. The next play, Dart is pressured again and breaks the pocket to run. Along the sideline he makes a spin and is hit hard by D’Eryck Jackson, forcing a fumble recovered by Kentucky. They did it! They just beat the #6 team in the country, on the road, on Homecoming! Not so fast, offsides, Deone Walker. Ugh, here we go again. Dart completes a pass to the flat for 4 yards. Another 4 th down, another decision. Kiffin sends out the Kicker for a game tying 48 yard field goal.
Fate was on Kentucky’s this Saturday as the kicked was hooked left and sailed outside the uprights! Kentucky did it. They pulled off what some thought was an impossible task, they won in Oxford over the #6 ranked team in the country, that was riding the best offense in the country. They held that high powered offense to 317 yards fewer than they averaged per game. They held them to 38 fewer points than they came into the game averaging. They held them to 59 total plays, 23 in the 1st half (the lowest ever in a home game under Lane Kiffin). They kept the ball away from Ole Miss possessing it for nearly 40 minutes and running 75 plays themselves. They won the game as 15.5 point underdogs, after nearly pulling it off the week before as 21.5 point underdogs.
Mark Stoops exorcised some demons on Saturday. A win over a SEC West team on the road. A win over a top 10 team on the road. Revenge for the last time they were in Oxford when they lost 22-19 because of an illegal shift. Rinsing away the bitterness of the South Carolina loss and the heartbreaking loss to Georgia.
In one afternoon, hope is back in the bluegrass. Yes, it’s only one game, but a win like that can propel a team to a great season. Tough games still remain against top 5 teams on the road at Tennessee and at Texas, but they have a chance to run off a win streak now with games against Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn coming up.
It’s been a roller coaster of a ride so far through 5 games this season, but the Wildcats are now riding the highest of highs.
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