On Saturday, Brock Vandagriff showed off his skill by throwing 17 of 24 passes for 237 yards, helping Kentucky defeat Ohio 41-6 at home. Dane Key was Vandagriff’s preferred target; he grabbed seven passes for a remarkable 145 yards.
Kentucky’s most notable performance was in the second quarter when they scored two touchdowns, thereby snapping a two-game losing streak without a touchdown. Kentucky’s defense was excellent; they forced two turnovers and limited Ohio to just 223 yards overall, including 113 running yards on 32 attempts.
With 206 yards gained on the ground and 282 yards gained through the air, the Wildcats totaled 488 offensive yards. With 5:48 remaining, Alex Raynor’s 30-yard field goal gave Kentucky the lead early in the second quarter, after which they led 10-0 thanks to a 1-yard touchdown run by Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, capping a seven-play, 80-yard drive. Jamarion Wilcox had two outstanding rushes of 21 and 23 yards during this drive.
They maintained their momentum with a another 80-yard drive, which ended with Sumo-Karngbaye scoring a touchdown run of two yards to make it 17-0. Two key passes from Vandagriff to Key—one for 42 yards and the other for 36—set up this score by getting the ball down to Ohio’s 2-yard line.
With just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Maxwell Hairston of Kentucky’s defense scored another touchdown, this time on an interception return of 25 yards, to increase the advantage to 27-0 after Raynor added a 34-yard from goal to make it 20-0. Rickey Hunt Jr.’s 1-yard rush on the opening play of the fourth quarter allowed Ohio to cut the advantage to 27-6, despite their inability to convert on a two-point play.
