LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky put an end to its three-game losing skid on Saturday night at Kroger Field, coming from behind to claim a 24-20 victory over Arkansas.
Playing with junior athlete Lynn Bowden Jr. in an emergency quarterback role after injuries to Terry Wilson and Sawyer Smith earlier this season, the Wildcats (3-3, 1-3 SEC) leaned on their rushing attack to get back on track.
Kentucky ran for a season-high 330 yards on 54 carries, including a career-high 196 by Bowden. The Youngstown, Ohio, native rushed for two touchdowns and threw for a third to highlight the win. Junior running back A.J. Rose added 90 yards rushing on 16 carries for the Cats.
Arkansas (2-4, 0-3 SEC) led 13-0 with the help of a 74-yard run by Rakeem Boyd on the second play of the game and a pair of first-half field goals by Connor Limpert, but could not hold it. Kentucky scored 17 unanswered points to take its first lead on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Bowden to Clevan Thomas with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter.
The Razorbacks briefly reclaimed the lead on a 2-yard run by Boyd early in the fourth quarter, but Bowden answered with a 24-yard TD run with 6:53 to go.
Kentucky's defense came up with a fourth-down stand at its 22-yard line with 2:32 remaining. A sack by Calvin Taylor and a quarterback pressure by TJ Carter on an incomplete pass by Ben Hicks helped seal the win.
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In this Cats Illustrated "Quick Takes" feature, our staff offers its first impressions from the UK victory...
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
Lynn Bowden played better at quarterback than I expected. I don't have any illusions about how good Arkansas is. This is a game Kentucky should have won. But they won it and now they're still in position to reach the postseason. Interestingly enough, UK got back to a power identity that it had been lacking. This was a really nice night for the program. The fans showed up, Jared Lorenzen was recognized in a special way, and the team rewarded everyone with their best performance in some time. There are still plenty of issues to take care of but UK needed tonight.
TRAVIS GRAF:
Kentucky was obviously very limited coming into this game. It’s not an ideal situation to have your best wide receiver starting at quarterback, but that’s where Kentucky found themselves. Outside of a 74-yard run to start the game, the Wildcats’ defense played pretty solid, giving up 122 yards through the air and 183 on the ground. Lynn Bowden played one of the best individual games in recent memory, accounting for 78 passing yards and a touchdown while adding 196 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Arkansas was driving late and had all of the momentum and Kentucky’s defense answered the call when it was gut-check time at it’s finest. Kentucky showed maturity and growth today and took care of business in a game that they had to have.
JEFF DRUMMOND:
In what might go down in UK football lore as "The Lynn Bowden Game," the Cats' emergency quarterback delivered a heroic performance that snapped a three-game losing skid and may have saved the season. I don't subscribe to "must-win" scenarios unless a team is facing elimination of some sort, but this was as close to acknowledging one as I get. Kentucky simply had to beat Arkansas at home if it wanted to regain control of a season that was spiraling out of control, and the Cats produced a gut-check win that could loom large in their bowl hopes. It wasn't easy, it wasn't pretty, but in the end, it was a W. Those are always coveted in this league.
