Before the Kentucky defense went back on the field for one final time, offensive lineman Bunchy Stallings had a few words to say. “Remember defense wins championship. Go win it,” said Stallings. Kentucky was leading 40-34 after an Austin MacGinnis field goal with 1 minute, 48 seconds left in what had been a wild affair dominated by big plays by both offenses. One final stop, and UK would be 5-1 for the first time in three years and 2-1 in SEC play.
Freshman receiver Lynn Bowden spent time with the UK defensive backs. Offensive line coach John Schlarman and tight ends coach Vince Marrow said encouraging words. So did quarterback Stephen Johnson. But despite a late surge, Missouri could not get into the end.
“I am proud of our team and effort,” UK coach Mark Stoops said. “We have played our hearts out for six games and now we get a bye week we need.” Stoops said he knew Missouri could “go fast” and that’s why he went for a field goal to make it 40-34 rather than go for fourth down and two inside the 5-yard line. “We have not been perfect. You have seen us fight back from adversity. That is the way this team is built right now. It is going to be tough, hard-fought games. It is tough. I am just proud of the way our team fight backs from tough situations,” Stoops said.
Josh Allen got Kentucky in position to score early when he sacked Missouri quarterback Drew Lock and forced a fumble that Courtney Love recovered at the Missouri 19. It gave him 6.5 quarterback sacks and two forced fumbles in what has been an all-SEC type year so far. Kentucky made the Tigers’ defense, which has been porous all season, pay with a 14-yard scoring strike to senior Blake Bone just 3:40 into the game for a 7-0 lead. Bone had just two touchdowns combined in 2015 and 2016. That was his second scoring catch this season.
The next series the offense had a methodical 14-play, 18-yard drive that used 6:09 — a 3-yard scoring run by Benny Snell was negated by an illegal formation penalty — that ended with Austin MacGinnis kicking a 21-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead 11 minutes into the game. That was followed by a 63-yard, 13-play drive that used 5:09 off the block but also ended with a MacGinnis 35-yard field and no touchdown to put the lead at 13-0 when it could easily have been 21-0.
“We didn’t get the ball in the end zone a few times that would have made this a whole lot easier,” quarterback coach Darrin Hinshaw said.
At this point, time of possession was 14:45 for UK compared to 5:34 for Missouri. But the Tigers did what teams have done all season — took advantage of a big UK blunder on a 50-yard touchdown pass to J’Mon Moore. Cornerback Derrick Baity took the short route and safety Darius West was late getting deep as it was an easy catch and score to cut the lead to 13-7 midway of period two. It was the 10th play of 30 or more yards allowed by the UK defense in 5 1/2 games.
But Kentucky answered with an explosive play of its own. Snell, who didn’t have a run over 25 yards this season, got loose for 71 yards and tightroped the sideline after evading the last tackle to get into the end zone for a 20-7 lead with 5:36 left in the half. MacGinnis also became UK’s all-time leading scorer with 306 points — Loses Seiber had the record at 305. That’s the kind of play in the running game UK had been lacking with Snell — and others — pounding the line with little success. Snell had five runs for two yards this game before that run and boosted not only his rushing average but the morale of UK fans worried about the run game.
Then again, the way UK gives away points is unreal. Leading 20-7 with less than one minute left in the half, UK let Missouri connect on a 58-yard scoring pass to Emanuel Hall. Sure, it was a terrific throw by Drew Lock but how does a receiver get behind the defense — again — in that situation. That’s inexcusable and is on Mark Stoops and his staff again. “They put stress on you and they hit some big plays,” Stoops said.
A game that should have been over by halftime, was back to 20-14. Missouri had 118 yards on 26 plays — and 108 yards on two scoring plays. Kentucky had the ball twice as long in the half but led just 20-14 because of missed scoring chances and blown defensive assignments.
The second half started with another costly miscue — running into the kicker after Tucker McCann missed a 32-yard field goal. He got a second chance and made the 27-yard kick to cap the 65-yard, 13- play drive that chopped the lead to 20-17. Kentucky went from leading 20-7 with less than a minute left in the first half after it punted to leading just 20-17 with 11:45 to go in the third period. That’s inefficiency at its best.
It got worse when Johnson threw at interception at the UK 35 but the DEFENSE ANSWERED. West forced a fumble that Phil Hoskins recovered to put some energy back on the UK sideline when it was really needed. The Cats showed some toughness by driving 66 yards in nine plays to score on Snell’s 6-yard run to up the lead to 27-17 with 6:39 left in period three. It was just what UK needed to give the defense time to regroup and for the offense to gain back some needed confidence.
Then it happened again. Missouri threw deep and despite interference on Baity, Hall hauled in a 48-yard bomb to the UK 1-yard line and Lock scored the next play to make it a 3-point game at 27-24. The Tigers tied the game on their next series with a 25-yard field goal after the UK defense did manage to hold in the red zone. But in periods two and three, the UK defense gave up 338 yards and 27 points when the Cats had a chance to seal the deal.
So maybe it was only fitting that UK opened the fourth quarter by gashing Missouri with a 64-yard throw and run touchdown to Garrett “Juice” Johnson. He put a great move on a defender to get a step and then raced into the end zone to again try to put MOMENTUM back with UK. It was also the fourth time in 17 games the Johnson have played together that they have had a touchdown play of 40 or more yards. That’s pretty good.
“Stephen really played tough tonight. He picked himself up and really did what it took to win,” Stoops said. “But it was beautiful to see the offense respond the way it did. The strength of our team is our team. That’s not BS. That is the truth . We do what we have to do to win games. Tonight if we did not have the big offensive plays, we would not have won the game.”
No way the UK secondary could get burned again. Right? Well, forget logic about how to play defense. It happened. This time it was for 75 yards to Johnat Johnson to tie the game. Missouri NEEDED 23 SECONDS to tie the score. Only way to describe that — RIDICULOUS. Maybe it was only fitting then that MacGinnis, who had been just short on four field goals of 52 yards or more, killed a 53-yard field goal with 9:40 left to put UK back on top 37-34. This one would have been good for 58 yards. He delivered late in the game again to make it 40-34.
Kentucky is 5-1 for the first time since 2014. Of course, that year UK lost its final six games, including the 44-40 matchup at Louisville that kept Kentucky from going to a bowl. That should not happen this year. Kentucky’s win over South Carolina continues to look better and better, too. First, North Carolina State — a team South Carolina beat at a neutral site — defeated Louisville Thursday. Then Saturday South Carolina pummeled Arkansas.
Now UK gets a needed week off before going to Mississippi State Oct. 21 in what could be the most pivotal game of the year for UK. “We need to get some rest,” Stoops said. “This has been a grind, but we got the win.”
And more to come. “We can do a lot more,” Snell, who ran for 117 yards, said. “You’ve not seen our best yet.”