Football

KENTUCKY POSTGAME NOTES
Austin Peay at Kentucky
Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, Ky. 
Nov. 19, 2016

FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 49, Austin Peay 13

 

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 6-5 overall.  Austin Peay finishes the season 0-11.  
• This was the first meeting between the schools in football.
• Kentucky is bowl-eligible for the first time since the 2010 season.
• UK completes the regular season Sat. Nov. 26 at Louisville. Game time and television assignment will be announced Sunday.  

Kentucky Team Notes

• UK’s game captains were senior center Jon Toth, senior running back Jojo Kemp, senior safety Marcus McWilson and senior defensive lineman Courtney Miggins.  It is the first time this season that this combination of players have been captains. 
o Toth and Miggins have been captain in all 11 games. Kemp has been captain for three games. This was the first game for McWilson to be captain. 
• After trailing 13-0 early in the second quarter, Kentucky scored touchdowns on seven consecutive possessions.
• This was the largest margin of victory in school history (36 points) in a game in which the Wildcats trailed by at least 10 points.
• This is the fifth season in school history that Kentucky has won two games after trailing the opponent by at least 11 points (also Mississippi State). 
o Mark Stoops is only the second coach in school history with five career wins after trailing by at least 11 points.  Rich Brooks had eight.
• UK scored 21 points in the second and third quarters. It was the first time that UK scored at 21 points in two quarters since Oct. 11, 2014 vs. Louisiana-Monroe.
• Five of Kentucky’s touchdowns were at least 25 yards.
• Kentucky rushed for 281 yards tonight, the fifth time in the last six games that the Wildcats ran for at least 250 yards. 
• UK has had six games of at least 400 yards total offense, most since 2010 (eight times that season).
• Kentucky limited Austin Peay to 27 passing yards tonight, fewest since Sept. 7, 2013 when the Wildcats limited Miami (Ohio) to 23 passing yards.
• UK has 2,666 rushing yards this season, most since 1976 (2,960).
• UK has a rushing touchdown in each of the last 13 home games.
• Kentucky has scored at least 35 points six times this season, the most since the 2007 team did it in nine games.
• This is the 12th time in Commonwealth Stadium history that the Wildcats won at least five home games.
• UK converted both of its fourth-down attempts tonight, making the Wildcats 9 of 11 on the season. The Cats lead the Southeastern Conference in fourth-down conversions at 81.8 percent.
• UK is 32-1 in the last 33 games in which the Wildcats have led at the end of the third quarter.
• UK is 33-1 in the last 34 games in which the Wildcats have held the opponent to 14 or fewer points.
• This was the first time that UK held three opponents to 13 points or less in one season since 2011 (four times that season).

Kentucky Player Notes

• Junior quarterback Stephen Johnson entered the game in the second quarter. He directed UK to touchdown drives on all five possessions he played — three possessions in the second quarter and the first two possessions of the third quarter.  He completed 5 of 9 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns.
• Sophomore quarterback Luke Wright made his first start as a Wildcat. He completed 3 of 4 passes for 28 yards.
• True freshman running back Benny Snell ran 14 times for 152 yards, including touchdown runs of 30 and 48 yards.  
o He had his fifth 100-yard game of the season, breaking the UK freshman record of four 100-yard games by Chris Jones in 1979 and Moe Williams in 1993.
o Snell averaged 10.9 yards per carry tonight, the best average for a Wildcat with at least 14 carries since Mark Higgs averaged 13.7 per attempt vs. Ole Miss in 1987.
o Four of Snell’s 100-yard games have been at home, first Wildcat to have four in Commonwealth Stadium in one season since Rafael Little in 2007.
o He has 1,006 yards for the season, breaking Moe Williams’ freshman record (928 yards in 1993) and becoming the first freshman in school history to top 1,000 yards. 
o He is the first SEC true freshman to rush for 1,000 yards since Leonard Fournette of LSU and Nick Chubb of Georgia in 2014.
o He has 12 rushing touchdowns this season (already the UK freshman record) and it is the most for a Wildcat since Artose Pinner had 13 rushing TDs in 2002.
• Senior running back Jojo Kemp ran eight times for 54 yards, including TD runs of 40 and seven yards. 
o Kemp is the first senior with two touchdowns in his final home game since Derrick Locke in 2010 vs. Vanderbilt.
o Kemp now has 1,649 rushing yards as a Wildcat, moving up one spot to 16th place on the UK career list.
o Kemp has 19 rushing touchdowns, tied for ninth on the UK career rushing TD list.
• Junior running back Stanley “Boom” Williams ran seven times for 47 yards, featuring a 25-yard touchdown.  
o Williams has 1,072 yards this season, seventh on the UK single-season list. It’s the most since Artose Pinner ran for 1,414 yards in 2002. 
o Williams now has 2,413 career rushing yards, seventh on the UK career list. 
• Williams and Snell have combined for 2,078 rushing yards this season, breaking the record for the most by a duo in one season in school history.  The old record was 1,879 rushing yards by Sonny Collins and Mike Fanuzzi in 1974. 
o Williams and Snell have combined for 18 rushing touchdowns this season, most by a duo since Moe Williams and Billy Jack Haskins combined for 21 rushing TDs in 1995.
• Junior Garrett Johnson paced the receivers with three catches for 46 yards, including a 40-yard TD bomb. 
o He now has 1,369 career receiving yards, moving up two spots to 14th place on the UK career receiving yardage list.
• Sophomore tight end C.J. Conrad made a magnificent leaping grab at the pylon for a 14-yard touchdown, his only reception of the game. 
• Junior Jeff Badet caught one pass for 42 yards. He has 1,302 receiving yards as a Wildcat, moving up two spots to 17th place on the career list.
• Junior kicker Austin MacGinnis had seven points today. He has 242 career points and remained in third place on the UK career list.
• Sophomore cornerback Chris Westry intercepted a pass to end Austin Peay’s first drive.  It is his first interception of the season and third of his career.
• Sophomore safety Mike Edwards intercepted a pass in the second quarter, made a magnificent spin move to stay off the ground, then returned it 46 yards. The play set up UK’s first touchdown. 
o It was Edwards’ first interception of the season and second on his career.
• Senior center Jon Toth made his 46th consecutive start. 

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