Kentucky appeared to be poised to finally leave its SEC West road woes in the rearview mirror on Saturday in Oxford, Miss.

The No. 7 Wildcats had a first-and-goal situation from the Ole Miss 7-yard line with 1:05 remaining, but an illegal motion penalty wiped out a go-ahead touchdown pass, and the No. 14 Rebels forced UK quarterback Will Levis to fumble under pressure on the next play to preserve a 22-19 win at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

They were the final blunders on a day of many for Kentucky (4-1, 1-1 SEC). The Wildcats missed a short field goal, failed on two extra-point attempts, gave up a safety, dropped a potential touchdown pass, tripped their own player on a potential kickoff return for a touchdown, and fumbled twice inside the Ole Miss red zone in the final three minutes of play.

In other words, a gut-punch of a loss in a game that could have propelled the Cats into the Top 5.

"A very difficult beat," UK head coach Mark Stoops said. "We talked all week that the more precise team was going to win, you know, with an evenly matched team... In some critical moments, we weren't precise."

It marked the 15th consecutive loss for UK on the road against the SEC West dating back to 2009. Mark Stoops dropped to 0-11 in those games as head coach of the Cats.

Kentucky held the potent Ole Miss offense to 19 points under its season average of 41.0 per game. The Cats allowed only three points in the second half, giving the offense a chance to catch up.

Trailing 19-12 at halftime, Kentucky clawed its way back to a tie on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Levis to freshman tight end Jordan Dingle with 6:22 left in the third quarter.

Ole Miss countered with a 26-yard field goal by Jonathan Cruz to make it 22-19 at the 2:19 mark of the third quarter.

A 54-yard kickoff return by freshman Barion Brown gave UK an excellent chance to reclaim the lead, but Ole Miss broke up a Levis pass on 4th-and-2 from the Rebels' 32 on the first play of the fourth quarter to preserve the lead.

Kentucky drove to the Ole Miss 32, 19, and 7 on its final three possessions of the game but came away with no points. Levis fumbled on both of the final drives, the first coming after a controversial targeting no-call and the second after Levis found Dane Key for a go-ahead touchdown pass that was negated by another UK player failing to get set before the snap.

The Rebels (5-0, 1-0 SEC) outgained the Cats 399-324 on the day. Sophomore quarterback Jaxson Dart, a five-star prospect in the class of 2020 who transfered to Oxford from USC, was 15 of 29 for 213 yards. Malik Heath caught six of those passes for 100 yards. Quinshon Judkins rushed for 105 yards on 15 carries to lead the Ole Miss rushing attack.

Levis completed 18 of 24 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Chris Rodriguez, in his first game back at running back after a four-game suspension, rushed for 72 yards and a touchdown. He also had three receptions for 40 yards.

"Very tough to swallow an L," Brown said, "a lot of us aren't used to this. But we'll get back to work."

*****

In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...

KEY MOMENT:

One could point to a half-dozen plays in this game, but the final sequence loomed largest. Barion Brown's 51-yard catch and run had set up the Cats with a 1st-and-goal at the Rebels' 7 with 1:05 to go. Kentucky appeared to have a play designed to take advantage of the reeling defense, and tried to get it off quickly. It worked, as Dane Key leaped to bring down a would-be go-ahead TD pass, but Brown was unable to get set before the snap and was subsequently flagged for illegal motion. On the next play, Ole Miss linebacker Jared Ivey beat UK right tackle David Wohlabaugh -- who was in the game for a cramping starter Jeremy Flax -- for a sack and game-clinching forced fumble.

GAME BALL:

Barion Brown, Kentucky -- The freshman wide receiver/kick return specialist was dazzling in defeat. He caught two passes for 81 yards and averaged 55 yards on three kickoff returns to give the Cats a chance to get back in the game. One of the kickoffs would have likely turned into a touchdown if not for getting his legs tangled with a UK teammate. He finished with 245 all-purpose yards.

BY THE NUMBERS:

-1 - Turnover margin with Kentucky committing two turnovers and Ole Miss committing one.

4.1 - Yards per carry on non-sack rushing plays for UK.

7 - Combined margin of victory in last three Ole Miss wins over Kentucky.

8 - Game win streak by the Cats snapped.

30-14-1 - Ole Miss lead in the all-time series against the Cats, including three straight wins and a 9-2 mark in Oxford.

36:53 - Time of possession for the Cats.

51.5 - Punting average for UK's Colin Goodfellow.

74 - Points allowed by the Cats this season, the lowest figure through five games since the 2018 team allowed 63.

QUOTABLE:

"We're disappointed, but I told them I was proud of how resilient they were. Very similar to the Florida game, no panic, nobody flinched... I think everybody on our team thought we were going to win that game. We had ample opportunities." -- UK head coach Mark Stoops.

UP NEXT:

Kentucky returns home to face South Carolina next Saturday. The Gamecocks (3-2, 0-2 SEC) are coming off a 50-10 win over South Carolina State this week. Kickoff from Kroger Field is slated for 7:30 ET on the SEC Network.