Cats' Defense Stands Tall, Seals Deal in Saturday Win
Saturday’s game could not have started any better for the 15th-ranked Kentucky football team. Playing at Oklahoma, the Cats got the ball first and promptly drove 67 yards in 13 plays for a touchdown.
The UK defense allowed Oklahoma to go 13 plays on its first drive, but the Cats held and forced a field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
From there, the UK offense had its struggles. Four out of the next five drives ended in punts. The exception was the end of the first half. Meanwhile, the Sooners went 13 plays, then 12 plays, then 12 more plays on their first three drives of the game.
Kentucky was forced to rely on its defense. Defensive coordinator Jay Bateman and his unit did their best to keep the Cats in the game. Oklahoma did score a touchdown late in the first half, then got a field goal in the third quarter to take a 13-7 lead. However, the Cats’ defense was huge from that point forward.
Oklahoma had five drives after the field goal. Those drives ended with an interception, two punts, then two more interceptions. UK head coach Will Stein was happy with his team’s effort overall.
“Good teams find a way to win,” Stein said. “Like I’ve been saying all the time, we’re a good team.”
Kentucky gave up 186 yards of offense to Oklahoma in the first half, over the course of three drives. In the second half, the Sooners had seven possessions, and the Cats held them to 156 yards while producing three turnovers.
In the third quarter, with Oklahoma leading 13-7, Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace hit the arm of OU quarterback John Mateer, and Mateer’s pass was intercepted by Ty Bryant, who returned it into Oklahoma territory. That set up the Kenny Minchey-to-Willie Rodriguez touchdown pass that put the Cats ahead for good.
Humphrey-Grace dominated the next Oklahoma possession. On first down, he sacked Mateer for a three-yard loss. On third down, he sacked Mateer again, this time for a five-yard loss which forced a punt.
The Cats’ defense continued to get better as the game went along. On the next Oklahoma possession, Humphrey-Grace was in Mateer’s face again. He forced two quarterback hurries as the Sooners went three-and-out again.
Kentucky was unable to do anything with the ensuing possession and was forced to punt. The Sooners took over, hoping to get in position for a potential game-winning field goal. However, the UK defense would not allow that to happen.
With 1:17 remaining, Mateer was intercepted by Jordan Castell, who returned it down the left sideline 41 yards for a touchdown, which extended the UK lead to 21-13.
Oklahoma still had a chance to tie with a touchdown and a two-point conversion. However, the drive was stopped when the Lexington native, Bryant, came up with his second interception of the game to seal the victory.
Stein thought his defense made just enough plays for the Cats to win.
“It wasn’t pretty. They were throwing the ball all around the yard,” Stein said. “We found a way to win, (and to) get takeaways, which was huge. We just kept fighting.”
Through seven games, the Kentucky defense has proved to be opportunistic, which has led the Cats to a 6-1 record. While the offense struggled on Saturday in the middle of the game, the defense carried Kentucky and then that unit sealed the deal in the fourth quarter.
