Missed the game? Watched it but can’t get enough or can’t believe what you saw? Cat Scratches will break down the nuts and bolts from each and every game, including some postgame reaction and comments from the players who made the difference.The essentials: Kentucky outscored Ole Miss 20-0 in the fourth quarter en route to a 30-13 victory in front of 56,882 fans in Commonwealth Stadium. Trailing by three points entering the final frame, freshman Maxwell Smith led UK on three touchdown drives. With the win, UK moved to 4-5 (1-4 Southeastern Conference) as the Wildcats begin a stretch of two consecutive SEC road games against Vanderbilt and Georgia. Even after taking a lead late in the fourth, head coach Joker Phillips and offensive coordinator Randy Sanders took an aggressive approach to closing out the Rebels. Even though Smith was making his first career start, he was trusted to make a number of key throws down the stretch to carry the Cats to victory. After a tough loss last week against Mississippi State, UK banded together as a team with Smith under center, but it was about a lot more than any single player.”I don’t know if it was rallying around Max, our guys were rallying around each other,” Phillips said. “We have been talking about locking arms and going to work together and working for each other.”With the game close until the Cats pulled away in the final minutes, UK needed every advantage it could get against a tough conference opponent. Makin a big difference on Saturday was the Commonwealth crowd.”I really liked the energy those guys had,” Phillips said. “You do not know how important it is for kids to see them out there. That was big and it was big in the fourth quarter.”Turning point: Facing that 13-10 deficit to start the fourth quarter, UK had the ball first-and-10 at its own 36-yard line. Two first downs later, wide receiver La’Rod King had single coverage on the outside 38 yards from the go-ahead score. He outran his defender and Smith delivered a perfect ball over his shoulder for a touchdown.Kicker Craig McIntosh would miss the ensuing extra point to keep the Rebels within a field goal, but the tone was established for the remainder of the game: the Cats would be the aggressors.Play of the game: Although UK was playing well and leading 16-13, the outcome of the game was still very much in doubt when the Cats took over possession at their own 15 with 5:26 remaining. The two teams had just exchanged punts, including a three-and-out by UK that featured two incompletions and a sack. Phillips and Sanders could have been frightened into pounding the ball with running back CoShik Williams, who rushed for 111 yards on the game, but instead they attacked yet again.On first down, Smith handed to wide receiver Matt Roark on an end around. He picked up seven yards to set up a second and short. Williams then rushed for 17 yards on the following two plays before another deep ball to King was called. In a near replay of the go-ahead touchdown, Smith hit King in stride for 55 yards to set UK up with a first-and-goal. The Cats would score two plays later on yet another aggressive play call when Smith found Gene McCaskill for his first career touchdown.Player of the game: UK had a number of offensive stars, with Williams exceeding 100 yards rushing and both Roark and King topping 100 yards receiving, but the face of it all was the freshman quarterback. Smith showed poise well beyond his years in completing 19-of-36 passes for 283 yards and two touchdowns. The way Smith responded when he was hit was perhaps the most impressive aspect of his performance.”He did take some hits, but he did a good job of picking himself up off the field,” Phillips said. “To me a big-time quarterback takes it right in the lips and stands in there and delivers.”Entering the game, Phillips said the playbook would be opened up much more compared with last week when Smith was called on to throw mostly underneath passes. UK followed through on that when Ole Miss showed single coverage on the outside. UK threw deep ball after deep ball in the first half, but Smith was missing long.”I was really getting frustrated with myself,” Smith said. “I wasn’t able to follow through on a couple. I don’t know if it was my adrenaline because I didn’t feel like I was putting that much on it.”In the second half, UK stuck with the deep ball because Smith maintained his confidence.”I told them at halftime, ‘I’m going to hit you guys, just trust me, I’m going to get it to you,’ ” Smith said. “Fortunately we were able to hit a couple in the second half.”Even though he played well in a win, Smith was critical of his own performance, saying he played ‘OK.’ Phillips, though, was impressed with how Smith coped with all that goes into playing quarterback.”The guy is a tough individual.”Phillips said. “That is what it takes to play that position because there is so much stuff on the quarterback that he has to manage.”Unsung heroes: Many will look to the insertion of Smith when attributing credit for the offensive emergence of the last six quarters, but none of it would have been possible if not for improvement of the offensive line. Only recently have the Wildcats been able to play with their full complement of offensive linemen and they worked in concert better than they have all season on Saturday. With a true freshman under center, communication and protection would be key along the line and Smith was not sacked once until the fourth quarter. The line also paved the way for Williams second 100-yard rushing performance of his career.Also not to be forgotten is linebacker Danny Trevathan. For the second consecutive week, the star senior tallied 17 tackles, 11 of which were solo. He also had 1.5 tackles for loss and his fourth career interception, which directly led to McIntosh’s 48-yard field goal at the end of the first half to give UK a lead of 10-6. UK knew it would get that level of production from the All-American candidate, but Trevathan’s development as a leader is what has made his senior season so special.”He is unbelievable,” Phillips said. “Danny is definitely the leader of this football team, not only does he lead by the way he plays but he leads by the way he prepares for the game. Now he is starting to lead vocally. That has definitely helped bring some other people with him. Danny is trying to bring some people with him.”Injury report: A few Wildcats sustained bumps and bruises during Saturday’s victory. E.J. Fields suffered a hip pointer on the first play from scrimmage and missed the rest of the game, while Donte Rumph (ankle) and Ridge Wilson (shoulder) will be evaluated Sunday.Hidden stat: Following a touchdown the Rebels scored on their first second-half possession, the Kentucky defense went into shutdown mode. On five drives, the Wildcats allowed just 89 total yards, 46 of which came on the game’s final drive when the outcome was in hand. UK forced three punts and two turnovers on downs on the five drives.”I think we played pretty well tonight,” Trevathan said. “We really got after the quarterback. I think we shut down what they were trying to do. (Ole Miss) had some big plays, but that all comes with football. You have to be able to adapt well and I think we played our type of ball today and I think we looked like a team.”UK was concerned about allowing big plays to an athletic Ole Miss team and the Rebels had a handful early, including a 56-yard rush by Nickolas Brassell that lead to a field goal on the game’s first drive. In the second half, UK was able to cut down on the big plays and make the Rebels move the ball methodically, which they were unable to do.Phillips was also worried about big plays in the punt return game, but Ryan Tydlacka and company were able to limit a Rebel team that was averaging over 27 yards per return to just four yards. Tydlacka punted six times for 251 yards with a net punting average of 41.2 yards.What this one means: By no means did UK play a perfect game, but in terms of an all-around performance, Saturday’s game was about as good as the Cats have been all season.”It was a total team effort,” Phillips said. “All phases did a great job to help us win the football game.”The performance came at the best of times because a loss against Ole Miss would have put UK in a position of having to win three games in a row to extend the Wildcats’ bowl streak to six. Instead, Kentucky needs to only win two of three.