Kentucky-Youngstown State Postgame Notes

FINAL SCORE: KENTUCKY 45, No. 17 (FCS) Youngtown State 13

Team Records and Series Information

• It was the season opener for both teams, as Kentucky football began its 136th season.
  • The Wildcats are now 93-37-5 in all-time season openers.
  • The Wildcats have won the last five season openers, first time since 2007-11.
  • The Wildcats have won eight of the last nine openers.
  • The Wildcats have won the last seven games that they have opened the season at home since 2018, the most since the Cats opened at home and won eight straight from 1987-94.
  • The four previous notes do not include the vacated win in the 2021 opener.
• Kentucky leads the all-time series with Youngstown State 2-0, with both games played in Lexington.

Next Game

• Kentucky has its only back-to-back home games of the season Saturday vs. Alabama, which will mark the opening game of the Southeastern Conference league schedule. The game time is 3:30 p.m. ET and it will be televised on ABC.
• It was announced today that SEC Nation and Marty & McGee will be telecast from the game on Saturday. More details will be announced during the week.

Team Notes

• Offensive Team Notes:
  • Kentucky completed a 7-play, 75-yard drive for a touchdown on the opening possession of the Will Stein era. It ended with a 15-yard rush by CJ Baxter.
  • Kentucky scored touchdowns on its first five possessions. The fourth possession was extended by a muffed punt that the Wildcats recovered.
  • Coach Will Stein fulfilled a promise that UK would throw the ball to the tight ends. UK’s two leading receivers today were tight ends and the three players at that position totaled nine catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
  • It is the first game that UK tight ends totaled that stat line since 1999 when first-team All-American James Whalen caught 10 passes for 151 yards and four touchdowns by himself at Georgia.
  • This marked the 10^th consecutive season that UK has started the opener with a transfer from a four-year school at quarterback. The last UK high school QB signee to start a season opener was Drew Barker in 2016.
  • UK’s offense had seven pass plays of at least 20 yards.
  • UK’s offensive line did not allow a sack and only one quarterback hurry.
  • This was the most points scored in a season opener since tallying 45 points vs. Louisiana-Monroe in 2021.
  • UK had 506 yards total offense today, most in a season opener since 564 vs. Louisiana-Monroe in 2021.
  • This was the third time since 1985 that UK had at least 300 passing yards and 200 rushing yards in a season opener.
  • This was the first time UK had four players with a receiving touchdown since 2012 vs. Kent State (also four in that game).
  • This was the first time UK had four players with a receiving touchdown in the season opener since six players caught TDs in 1998 at Louisville.
• Defensive Team Notes:
  • DT Ahmad Breaux logged the first sack of the season for the Wildcats.
  • SS Ty Bryant notched the first takeaway of the season when he recovered a muffed punt in the second quarter, setting up Kentucky’s fourth touchdown.
  • UK held Youngstown to just 59 yards rushing. Texas (Oct. 18, 2025) was the last opponent to have fewer than 60 yards (47).
  • Youngstown QB Beau Brungard – the 2025 National Player of the Year in the FCS – is a dangerous runner and scrambler. The Wildcats limited him to 29 net rushing yards with a long run of only seven yards.

Coach Will Stein

• This was Will Stein’s first game as a head coach at any level.
• 45 points is the most for a Kentucky head coach in his first game since 1938, when A.D. Kirwan’s Wildcats defeated Maryville 46-7.
• Kentucky head coaches are now 23-12-3 in their first game as head coach at UK.

Player Notes

• Making his first collegiate start, QB Kenny Minchey completed 18 of 27 passes for 301 yards and four touchdowns, all career highs.
  • He also rushed once for 17 yards.
  • He completed his first six passes in a UK uniform.
  • He connected with nine different receiving targets.
  • He is the first Wildcat to pass for 300 yards since Cutter Boley (330) versus Tennessee last season.
  • His four touchdowns passes also are the most since Boley threw five in that game.
  • He is the third QB in UK history to have 300 passing yards, four TDs and at least 65 percent completion in a season opener, also Will Levis in 2021 and Tim Couch in 1997 and ’98.
• RB J. Baxter rushed nine times for 48 yards and a career-high two touchdowns.
  • Both of his TDs came in the first quarter, first time that has happened in a season opener since Derrick Locke tallied twice at Louisville in 2010.
• RB Jason Patterson rushed 11 times for 78 yards. He added a 16-yard reception.
• RB Martels Carter Jr. rushed five times for 37 yards after moving over from defense last spring.
• True freshman WR Prince Jean made his first collegiate catch count, hauling in a swing pass after outside the hash marks after going in motion and weaving his way to a 26-yard score.
• The Kentucky Darby – true freshman WR Kenny Darby – caught three passes for 74 yards, including a 37-yarder for his first collegiate touchdown.
  • Jean and Darby are the first pair of true freshmen to catch touchdowns in the season opener since Barion Brown and Dane Key vs. Miami (Ohio) in 2022.
• TE Mikkel Skinner had his first collegiate receptions, catching a team-high four passes for a team-high 61 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown.
• TE Willie Rodriguez caught four passes for 48 yards and a score.
• LB Devin Smith tallied the first sack of his career.
• LB Bo Barnes, DB Jordan Castell, LB Grant Godfrey and DB Isaiah McMillian each tallied a team-high seven tackles. Castell added 2.0 tackles for loss.
• K Adam Zouagui made all six of his PAT attempts and connected on a 28-yard field goal.
• Making his first appearance for Kentucky, Thomas O’Hara punted twice for a 42.0-yard average, including a well-placed 39-yarder that was downed on the three-yard line.

First Starts

• First collegiate starts at any school: RT Olaus Alinen, QB Kenny Minchey, LB Bo Barnes, CB Isaiah McMillian (true freshman)
• Transfers who had started at other schools but making their first start at UK: LT Lance Heard, LG Jordan Knox, C Coleton Price, RG Tegra Tshabola, WR Nic Anderson, RB C.J. Baxter, NG Jamarrion Harkless, FS Jordan Castell

Game Captains

• RB C.J. Baxter, TE Willie Rodriguez, DE Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace, LB Grant Godfrey

Honorary Captains

• Matt Stein, father of head coach Will Stein and a UK letterman in the 1980s under Coach Jerry Claiborne.
• Lynn Bowden, a first-team All-American in 2019 and winner of the Paul Hornung Award as the Most Versatile Player in college football. Bowden came to UK from Youngstown.