Oct. 11, 2014

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KENTUCKY POSTGAME NOTES
Louisiana-Monroe at Kentucky

Commonwealth Stadium — Lexington, Ky.

Oct. 11, 2014

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 48, ULM 14

Team Records and Series Notes

• With the win, Kentucky is 5-1 and with the loss, ULM is 3-3.
• UK leads the all-time series with ULM, 4-1, with all five games played in Commonwealth Stadium.
• Kentucky is 5-1 all-time against teams that make up the current alignment of the Sun Belt Conference.
• UK is 5-11 all-time when playing on Oct. 11.
• Kentucky will return to action on Saturday, traveling to LSU for a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff in Baton Rouge, La.
  • The game be televised live on the SEC Network and will be broadcast live on the UK Radio Network, with Tom Leach, Jeff Piecoro and Dick Gabriel calling the action.

Team Notes

• Kentucky is riding a three-game winning streak for the first time since the 2010 season.
• UK has five wins in a season for the first time since the 2010 team finished 5-7.
• UK is 5-1 overall for the first time since 2007 and just the seventh time since 1950 (1950, 1976, 1977, 1983, 1984, 2007).
• Mark Stoops is only the third coach in the modern era of UK football (1945-present) to start a season 5-1 or better in his first two years on the job.
  • The others to accomplish that feat are Paul “Bear” Bryant in 1974 and Jerry Claiborne in 1983.
• UK is now 5-0 at home for the first time since 2007.
• UK took its opening drive for points for the third time in six games in 2014 and the first time since a 99-yard drive vs. Vanderbilt.
• The Wildcats forced their opponents into a punt on the opening possession for the fifth time in six games.
• UK’s 83-yard TD pass in the second quarter was its longest offensive play of the year.
• UK scored over 30 points for the fourth time in 2014, its most 30-point games since six games in 2010.
  • UK’s 48 points marked the most points allowed by ULM in 2014.
  • UK has scored at least 45 points three times on the year, its most 45+ point games in a season since 2010.
    • UK has scored 45+ points in a game at least three times in a season just three times since 2005 (2007, 2010, 2014).
• UK’s six sacks were a season-best and marked the most since UK had six sacks in a win over Miami (Ohio) in 2013.
• UK’s four defensive touchdowns in 2014 marked its most in a season since 2008.
• Kentucky scored 45 unanswered points to take a 48-14 lead into the fourth quarter.
• The Wildcats now have 11 interceptions through six games in 2014, marking the most interceptions in a single-season for UK since the 2011 team had 15.
• In back-to-back weeks, Kentucky’s defense returned interceptions for the go-ahead score.
• The Kentucky defense allowed only six yards in the third quarter.
• For the first time since facing Cincinnati in 1986, Kentucky had two interceptions returned for a touchdown in a single game.
• Javess Blue had 109 yards receiving and Stanley “Boom” Williams had 104 yards rushing in the game, marking the first time UK had a 100-yard receiver and 100-yard rusher in the same game since Sept. 8, 2012 vs. Kent State.
• Kentucky’s game captains were
  Jordan Swindle
  ,
  Javess Blue
  , Alvin “Bud” Dupree and Za’Darius Smith for the fifth time in six games.

Individual Offensive Notes

• Sophomore QB
  Patrick Towles made his sixth career start, passing it 16-for-28 for 216 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Towles tied his career best with three TD tosses.
• Senior WR
  Javess Blue
  took a pass from Towles 83 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and added a 21-yard TD grab in the third quarter.
  • Blue finished with three catches for 109 yards, his second career 100-yard receiving game and his first of 2014.
    • Blue is UK’s first 100+ yard receiver since
      Garrett Johnson
      vs. Florida earlier in 2014.
  • It marked Blue’s first career multi-TD game.
  • Blue’s 83-yard catch was the longest play of the year for UK and the longest since Blue had an 88-yard catch in 2013.
    • Blue’s 83-yard catch is tied for the seventh-longest passing play in program history.
  • It was Blue’s first and second touchdowns of the year and the fifth and sixth of his two-year UK career.
  • Blue is the first player in UK history to have two pass receptions of 83 yards or longer.
• Freshman RB Stanley “Boom” Williams 75-yard kickoff return to open the game was the longest kickoff return for UK since 2009.
  • Williams rushed a career-best seven times for a career-high 104 yards, including a 58-yard TD rush in the third quarter.
  • Williams now has two TD rushes on the year and three TDs overall in 2014.
  • Williams’ 100-yard rushing game marked the first of his career and the second consecutive game UK had a 100-yard rusher.
• Freshman WR
  Blake Bone
  hauled in a four-yard catch in the second quarter for his second career touchdown.
• Senior WR
  Demarco Robinson
  caught a team-best four passes for 37 yards.
  • Robinson returned five punts for 65 yards, including a long of 21.
• Freshman WR
  Dorian Baker
  caught three passes for 38 yards.
• Senior FB Darrell “D.J.” Warren played in his team-leading 42nd career game.
• Freshman QB
  Reese Phillips
  appeared in his second career game.

Individual Defensive Notes

• Senior DE/LB Alvin “Bud” Dupree played in his 41st career game, starting his team-leading 32nd career game.
  • Dupree finished with five tackles, 1.5 sacks and one quarterback hurry.
  • Dupree blocked his first career kick, marking UK’s first blocked field goal since
    Josh Forrest
    blocked a field goal vs. Louisville in 2013.
  • Dupree had 1.5 sacks and now has three on the year and 19 in his career.
    • With 19 sacks in his career, Dupree tied Dennis Johnson for second in UK career history.
• Senior DE Za’Darius Smith notched four tackles, one pass break-up, a QB hurry and a sack.
  • Smith now has eight sacks in his career and 1.5 in 2014.
  • Smith has three pass break-ups in his career and two quarterback hurries in 2014.
  • Smith and junior OL
    Jordan Swindle
    made their team-leading 18th consecutive starts.
• Junior LB
  Ryan Flannigan
  made his first career start, totaling two tackles.
• Junior LB
  Josh Forrest
  – a native of Paducah, Ky. – intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards for a go-ahead touchdown in the second quarter.
  • Forrest intercepted his first pass of the year and the second of his three-year career.
  • Forrest totaled five tackles and a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss, giving him seven tackles for loss in his three-year career and 5.5 in 2014.
• Freshman DT Matt Elam’s pass break-up in the second quarter led to Forrest’s interception return for a touchdown.
  • Elam had a career-high three tackles.
  • Elam now has two pass break-ups on the year.
• Junior DT Cory “C.J.” Johnson had his first career two-sack game.
  • Johnson now has 2.5 sacks in his NCAA debut season.
  • Johnson is the first UK player with two sacks in a game since
    Regie Meant had two sacks in his collegiate debut vs. UT Martin in 2014.
  • Johnson added a QB hurry, the second of his career.
• Sophomore S
  Marcus McWilson
  intercepted his second career pass and his second of 2014, returning it 36 yards for his first career touchdown.
• Sophomore DE/LB
  Jason Hatcher
  notched a tackle for a loss and his first QB hurry of the year.
  • Hatcher now has 8.5 tackles for loss in his career.
• Freshman DT Regie Meant recovered his first career fumble.
• Senior LB
  Tyler Brause
  forced his first career fumble.
• Sophomore NB
  Blake McClain
  totaled three tackles and a pass break-up.
  • McClain now has three pass break-ups on the year and eight in his career.

Individual Special Teams Notes

• Junior punter
  Landon Foster
  had five punts for a 35.2 average with all five punts downed inside the 20 yard line.
  • Foster now has 17 punts down inside the 20-yard line in 2014 and 45 in his three-year career.
• Freshman kick
  Austin MacGinnis
  made a pair of field goals, connecting on field goals from 30 and 37 yards.
  • MacGinnis is now 10-for-15 on the year, is 4-for-5 from 30-39 yards.
  • MacGinnis missed from 52 yards, his first career miss in three attempts from beyond 50 yards.
  • MacGinnis had nine kickoffs, with three going for touchbacks.
    • MacGinnis has kicked off 28 times in 2014, with 13 going for touchbacks.