KENTUCKY POSTGAME NOTES
Missouri at Kentucky
Kroger Field, Lexington, Ky.
Oct. 7, 2017
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 40, Missouri 34
Team Records and Series Notes
- Kentucky is 5-1 overall, 2-1 in the Southeastern Conference. Missouri is 1-4, 0-3 in league play.
- Kentucky leads the series 5-3, including 3-1 in Lexington. UK has won three in a row vs. the Tigers.
- Kentucky has an open date next week, then returns to action Sat. Oct. 21 at Mississippi State. Game time and television assignment are TBA.
Team Notes
- The win moved Kentucky to a 12-5 record over the last 17 games.
- UK’s 12-4 mark in the last 16 regular-season games has not been exceeded since 1977-78 when the Wildcats were 12-3-1 in a 16-game span.
- UK has won eight of its last 10 home games, first time that has happened since 2006-07.
- UK has won six of its last 10 SEC games, first time that has happened since 2006-07.
- Tonight’s game was the annual Homecoming contest. UK held its first Homecoming in 1915. Early records are incomplete, but UK has hosted a Homecoming game every year since 1946 and owns a 51-21 record in those contests.
- Kentucky scored a season-high 40 points tonight.
- UK has scored 38 points or more in at least one game in each season since 1997, the second-longest active streak in the SEC behind LSU.
- UK has scored at least 23 points in the first six games of the season, first time that has happened since 2007.
- UK has scored at least 23 points in 12 straight regular-season games, first time in school history.
- Kentucky was +1 in turnovers today. The Wildcats are now +8 for the season. UK entered the game ranked 11th in the nation in turnover margin.
- UK had a season-high 486 yards total offense tonight.
- Kentucky converted two-of-two on fourth-down conversions, both of which led to field goals.
- UK has allowed five rushing TDs in the first six games of the season, fewest in the first six games since 2008.
- UK has not allowed a rushing TD in the first quarter this season.
- The Wildcats have now scored in 20 consecutive quarters. The last time that happened was during the 2007 season when the Cats tallied in 27 straight quarters.
- Kentucky has defeated Missouri three in a row and South Carolina the last four years; it is the first time in school history that UK has defeated the same two SEC opponents in three concurrent seasons.
- UK has had at least a 70-yard run in five consecutive seasons, a school record.
Player Notes
- UK’s game captains were OG Nick Haynes, QB Stephen Johnson, LB Courtney Love and S Mike Edwards.
- Senior quarterback Stephen Johnson completed 22 of 36 passes for a season-high 298 yards and two touchdowns.
- UK is now 12-5 over the last 17 games with Johnson as the starter (10-5) or QB for the majority of the game in a relief role (2-0).
- Including 44 net rushing yards, he had 342 yards total offense. It is his fourth game as a Wildcat with at least 300 total offensive yards.
- Over the last nine games he has thrown 15 touchdowns with only three interceptions.
- Johnson is only UK quarterback since 1966 with four career games of at least 224 passing yards and 44 rushing yards.
- Sophomore running back Benny Snell, Jr. led the rushing attack with 20 carries for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
- He had a career-long 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
- It is his third 100-yard game of the season and eighth of his career. He has rushed for 100 yards in five of the last six home games.
- He has six rushing touchdowns this season, 19 in his career.
- He has rushed for 309 yards in two games vs. Missouri, most for a Wildcat in consecutive seasons against an SEC opponent since Rafael Little vs. Vanderbilt in 2005-06.
- He has 100-yard games vs. Missouri as a freshman and sophomore, first Wildcat to do so vs. an SEC opponent since Moe Williams vs. Georgia in 1993-94.
- He advanced three slots to 17th place on the UK all-time rushing list with 1,614 career yards.
- Senior wide receiver Garrett Johnson had seven catches for 111 yards and one touchdown.
- It is his first 100-yard game of the season and sixth of his career.
- He has had at least one 100-yard receiving game each of his four seasons; he and Rafael Little are the only two Wildcats in school history to do so.
- He has caught a pass in 17 consecutive games and is fourth in UK history with 1,883 receiving yards.
- He had a 64-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. It is his sixth catch of at least 60 yards in his career, four of which have been touchdowns from Stephen Johnson.
- Senior wide receiver Blake Bone had three catches for 30 yards, including a 14-yard TD catch to open the scoring. It is his second TD reception of the season, fifth of his career.
- Senior wide receiver Kayaune Ross had his best game as a Wildcat, four catches for 77 yards.
- Senior kicker Austin MacGinnis had 16 points tonight, breaking the UK career scoring record with 314 points.
- The previous record was 305 points by Lones Seiber from 2006-09.
- MacGinnis made all four of his field goals and four extra points, totaling 16 points for the night. The 16 points tied his career high for a game and is the second-most points for a kicker in one game in school history.
- He made a 53-yarder for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. In the process, he became the first player in school history with at three field goals in his career of at least 53 yards.
- Junior safety Mike Edwards had 11 tackles, his second double-figure tackle game of the season and sixth of his career.
- Senior linebacker Courtney Love had a career-high 10 tackles.
- Junior linebacker Josh Allen got a quarterback sack on the first defensive series, forcing a fumble that was recovered by senior linebacker Courtney Love.
- Allen now has 6.5 sacks and two caused fumbles on the season.
- Allen has the most sacks by a UK player through the first six games of the season since Jeremy Jarmon in 2007.
- For Love, it is his second fumble recovery of the season.
- Junior cornerback Derrick Baity had a career-high three pass breakups. He also had two PBU last week, giving him five over the last two games.
