No. 15 Cats Crush Cards, 56-10
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With room to run and time to throw against Louisville, Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson had it easy in living up to his nickname as “Terry Touchdown.”
Wilson accounted for 340 yards and four touchdowns, Benny Snell, Jr. rushed for two scores and the No. 17 Wildcats blew out archrival Louisville 56-10 on Saturday night in the Governor’s Cup.
The Wildcats (9-3) scored TDs on all five first-half drives and never trailed in posting their first nine-win regular season since 1977, scoring TDs on all five first-half drives. Wilson’s 3-yard scoring run provided a 14-0 lead before he tossed TD passes of 28 and 13 yards to Lynn Bowden, Jr. for a 35-10 cushion late in the second quarter. The sophomore transfer threw a 32-yard TD to Josh Ali in the third to make it 42-10.
Wilson completed 17 of 23 passes for 261 yards and rushed for 79 in his biggest game with Kentucky. Snell rushed for TDs of 7 and 24 yards and 100 yards; A.J. Rose ran for 122 with a 75-yard score; and Kavosiey Smoke had a 37-yard TD run as Kentucky posted its most lopsided series win over the Cardinals (2-10) since `98 (68-34).
The Wildcats outgained Louisville 601-305, a season high with Wilson doing much of his damage by halftime.
“It was huge for us,” said Wilson, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. “It was a mindset for us that we need to go out there and show everybody how explosive we are as an offense. We just came out humming, ready to go. Ready to make plays. I thought it was contagious.”
Malik Cunningham’s 75-yard TD run brought Louisville to 14-7, but the Cardinals lost their ninth in a row and allowed 50 points for the seventh time this season. They failed to beat a Power Five conference school.
“This is not the way we wanted to send 11 seniors out,” interim coach Lorenzo Ward said. “You would like for them to leave with something positive. …. I told them to remember the feeling of losing (nine) games in a row.”
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Kentucky will remain in the Top 25 as it prepares for a third consecutive bowl game.
THE TAKEAWAY
Kentucky: Entering the game as heavy favorites, the Wildcats posted their most decisive victory this season. Consecutive interceptions in the third quarter stalled offensive momentum after a dominating first half, but Wilson recovered to throw his third TD and spur another run of 21 unanswered points.
Louisville: Cunningham provided early excitement with his TD run, but the Cardinals played catch-up throughout. Twelve penalties for 134 yards meanwhile showed a lack of composure, as Cunningham was nailed for taunting on his score and tight end Micky Crum was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct in the third quarter. It appeared that coaches told Crum to leave the sideline afterward, but the senior talked with coaches and was back on the field for another series.
UP NEXT
Kentucky will prepare for its third consecutive bowl game, possibly on New Year’s Day.
Louisville will begin searching for a replacement for coach Bobby Petrino, who was fired on Nov. 11 after a 2-8 start and succeeded by Lorenzo Ward on an interim basis.
