Cutter Boley stepped in under center and injected some explosiveness into the Kentucky offense. The Wildcats bounced back from a disappointing loss to Ole Miss by running away with a 48-23 victory over Eastern Michigan.
Seth McGowan rushed for 104 yards and three touchdowns to lead the way for the Wildcats, while Boley completed 12 of his 21 passes for 240 yards and two touchdowns. The tight ends were his favorite targets. Josh Kattus and Willie Rodriguez each scored a touchdown while combining for five receptions and 89 receiving yards.
The defense started the game with a bang. On the first snap of the game, Noah Kim‘s pass was tipped by Terhyon Nichols and intercepted by Daveren Rayner. It’s the second straight game the Wildcats have picked off the opponent’s first pass attempt. It paved the way for McGowan to score two plays later.
Despite the hot start, the defense was what Mark Stoops would describe as “leaky” throughout the first half. The “bend, don’t break” operation did a lot of bending in the first half, allowing Eastern Michigan to rack up 290 yards of offense. However, they held firm once the Eagles got into scoring territory, forcing three field goals and getting a turnover-on-downs.
Weird End of Half for Kentucky
Kentucky built up a 28-6 lead with a touchdown pass to Rodriguez with 1:55 on the clock. Things got a little hairy in that final two minutes.
With Nichols sidelined by a thigh injury, Eastern Michigan went after his replacement, Kevis Thomas, and got the Maryland transfer on a double move, leading to a 64-yard touchdown for Terry Lockett. The offense failed to get any movement on the ensuing possession, but nearly created an explosive by forcing a fumble on the punt. Unfortunately, it was overturned by a penalty. That’s when the leakage showed up again, allowing EMU to kick a 50-yard field goal.
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The Eagles scored 10 points in 93 seconds, adding a little tension to the halftime locker room.
Solid Second Half Response
Whatever the message to the defense was in the halftime locker room, it was heard loud and clear by the players. Kentucky forced back-to-back three-and-outs to start the third quarter. After the second stop, Eastern Michigan tried a fake punt, and it was snuffed out immediately.
Kentucky took advantage of the short field, paving the way for McGowan’s third rushing score of the day. From then on, it was All Cats Everything.
Kentucky was Explosive against Eastern Michigan
In the first two weeks, the Wildcats took shots down the field, but never could connect. It was a much different story against this team with this quarterback under center.
Kentucky had three pass plays of 20+ yards through the first two weeks of the season. Boley had seven against Eastern Michigan, including four strikes of 30+ yards. The redshirt freshman will be graded on a curve against this porous defense, but No. 8 looked the part as the Wildcats’ signal-caller.
Box Score
