JUSTIN ROWLAND:

It was a given going in that we were not going to learn much that matters for the rest of this season. This just takes Kentucky from 3-6 (1-5 SEC) to 4-6 (1-5 SEC). Murray State's an FCS team, and they're not a very good one at all. So you just wanted to see Kentucky dominate today. The first half wasn't as dominating as you would have liked to see until the long drive there at the end of the half. Vandagriff was up and down and had a couple of very bad throws in the first quarter. Maybe the most interesting players for me were Cutter Boley, Hardley Gilmore, and Jamarion Wilcox. Those guys could be the core of a featured trio in the future and it was good for Boley to start to get some experience behind center. With a lot of guys out, they still had no problems. Now we'll see if a rested Kentucky team with more distance from its latest loss has a chance to do something interesting the last couple of weeks.

JEFF DRUMMOND:

I'm not quite sure what to make of this game today. It was nice to see Kentucky get back in the win column. The Cats needed something good to feel about after a long losing skid. Like Justin said, however, this was one where you'd like to see Kentucky dominate from start to finish, and it wasn't exactly smooth sailing. Kentucky had two turnovers, committed nine penalties (wiping out two explosive plays), and had the quarterback sacked four times by one of the worst defensive units in the FCS. This was the first time that Murray State has "held" an opponent under 52 points in almost a month. On a brighter note, several of the team's promising young players saw a ton of playing time on both sides of the ball. Freshman quarterback Cutter Boley saw his first extended action, playing the entire second half, and finished 10-of-14 with 130 yards and two touchdown passes to sophomore wideout Anthony Brown-Stephens. Another young receiver, freshman Hardley Gilmore, had a 53-yard touchdown reception. Meanwhile, freshman running back Jamarion Wilcox continued to produce almost every time he touches the ball. Despite having a 73-yard run wiped out by a holding penalty, he finished with 123 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. I would have to think those two guys will be a big focus of UK's NIL efforts in the off-season.