Sluggish Cats fend off scare from Chattanooga
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It was a good news/bad news type of Saturday for Kentucky.
The good news: The Wildcats improved to 3-0 on the season with a win over Chattanooga at Kroger Field.
The bad news: UK needed everything in its tank to hold off the FCS-level Mocs, 28-23, who have lost all but three of 127 all-time matchups against SEC opponents in their program's history.
Asked how his blood pressure was doing in the postgame press conference, UK head coach Mark Stoops replied, "Not good."
"Obviously the best thing about this, sitting right here, is we're 3-0," he continued. "But not very pleased, just got to be better in all areas, starting with myself."
"... I got to do a better job. Plain and simple. It's nobody but me."
The UK boss was not alone, however.
"Nobody's real happy in there," added UK senior linebacker Jacquez Jones, who noted that he stayed in his locker room stall for longer than usual after the game trying to make sense of the scare the Cats had just received.
After rolling up more than 500 yards of total offense in each of its first two games -- the first time that had occurred in program history -- the Cats were held to a relatively modest 356 by the Mocs. Chattanooga nearly matched that with 339, including 171 on the ground. Ailym Ford carried 21 times for 128 yards against the UK defense.
Meanwhile, the Cats' vaunted rushing attack managed only 102 net yards on 27 carries. Star tailback Chris Rodriguez, who had 206 yards rushing last week against Missouri, was held to just 46 on 13 carres.
It was the proverbial "letdown game" for Kentucky, which was coming off an emotional 35-28 win over SEC East rival Missouri last week at Kroger Field, a matchup that had been circled on the Cats' calendar all summer. Combined with a Noon ET kickoff and a less-than-capacity crowd, it was a recipe for a dud.
It didn't start that way, though.
Kentucky took the opening kickoff and drove 70 yards in nine plays to score on an 11-yard end-around run by senior receiver Josh Ali. It felt like the expected romp was on.
But Chattanooga (1-2) answered with a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive of its own, capped by Reginald Henderson's 12-yard touchdown pass from Cole Copeland to make it 7-7.
The Cats surged ahead 14-7 on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Will Levis to Isaiah Epps at the 13:29 mark of the second quarter but led only 14-10 after a Chattanooga field goal Aaron Sears to cap a surprisingly low-scoring first half.
That would be the start of nine straight points by the Mocs -- field goals of 27, 43, and 30 yards by Sears -- to stun Kentucky with a 16-14 lead at the 13:27 mark of the fourth quarter.
Kentucky responded, however, driving 77 yards in seven plays to reclaim the lead on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Levis to sophomore tight end Izayah Cummings in the back corner of the end zone.
Chattanooga looked poised to counter that score, but UK safety Tyrell Ajian intercepted a Copeland pass at the Cats' 5-yard line and returned it 95 yards for a touchdown to essentially put the game away.
The Mocs tacked on a late touchdown on a 2-yard run by Copeland with 1:20 remaining, but Ali recovered the onside kick to seal the victory and UK's 13th straight non-conference win.
In this Rapid Recap feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...
GAMEBALL:
Tyrell Ajian, Kentucky - The senior safety made perhaps the biggest play of his career. It was his fourth interception as a Wildcat but his first collegiate score and tied for the third-longest interception return in school history. It marked the longest since David Johnson's 95-yarder at Cincinnati in 1986. It is the longest such return at Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Meeting between the Cats and Mocs.
2 - Players caught their first collegiate TD for Kentucky -- Isaiah Epps and Izayah Cummings.
7 - TD passes by Kentucky's Will Levis in his first three starts, the most by a Wildcat quarterback since Jared Lorenzen had eight through three games in the 2000 season.
20 - Plays run by the UK offense in the second half. The Cats ran 42 in the first half.
111 - Yards receiving on eight catches by UK's Wan'Dale Robinson, the first Wildcat to have three consecutive 100-yard receiving games since Derek Abney in 2001. He is the first UK receiver to start a season with three such games.
.500 - All-Time record for UK football, which is 632-632-44 in program history. It's the first time since 2012 that the program has been at the .500 mark.
QUOTABLE:
"You have to respect the game, and I talk about it daily, respecting the game, this game we love, is about preparation... I'm not happy with myself on that and I got to find a better way to motivate them.." -- UK head coach Mark Stoops
UP NEXT:
The first road game of the season awaits Kentucky, which will travel to Columbia, S.C., for an SEC East clash with the Gamecocks. South Carolina (2-0, 0-0 SEC) plays at No. 2 Georgia (2-0, 0-0 SEC) later tonight.
