The Kentucky Wildcats opened coach Mark Stoops’ 13th campaign with a 24-16 victory over the Toledo Rockets on Saturday at Kroger Field.
The Cats took advantage of a Chamber of Commerce Saturday afternoon in Lexington to get an especially important first victory of the season.
As this author was driving south on I-75 Saturday evening, it occurred to him that this game could be divided much like one of the best ‘spaghetti westerns’ of all-time- The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.
Let us dive in, shall we? And…action!
The Good-
The UK defense. For 90% of the game, the Cats looked good defensively. The Cats did give up to Toledo 329 yards of offense, but ninety-five of that total came on a late Rocket drive with the Cats up 24-9 and in soft zone coverage. Toledo was 3-9 on third down and 1-3 on fourth down during what I call “winning time.” The defense tackled well, played clean (three penalties), and kept Toledo backed up inside their own twenty most of the game.
Dante Dowdell and Seth McGowan. Dowdell rushed for a career-high 129 yards and a score, while McGowan had seventy-eight yards and a touchdown. The UK offensive line can be added into this as well, leading the Cats to 220 rushing yards and an average of 5.1 yards per carry.
The Wildcat special teams. UK’s punter Aidan Laros had five punts for a whopping 43.8 yards per attempt, consistently flipping the field for the Cats’ defense. Jacob Kauwe made his field goal attempt easily from forty-five yards (would have been goof from fifty plus. The returners did not turn the ball over. Magnificent work all the way around for the unit.
The Bad-
The Passing Game- Senior (and I do mean senior) quarterback Zach Calzada was a paltry 10/23 for eighty-five yards and an interception. The seventh-year signal caller threw the ball all over the yard, missing receivers at all three levels. I would not be surprised to see Cutter Boley under center next week in some capacity.
Turnovers- The Cats had two costly turnovers- one pick and one fumble by end Willie Rodriguez that cost the Cats at least one score. If Kentucky is going to be a ball-control unit, they must have the ability to limit the turnovers to near zero.
The Ugly-
Offensive play calling- The UK offense under coordinator Bush Hamdan has been scattershot at best. The Cats effectively live out of the pistol formation with twelve personnel (one running back and two tight ends.) I get it. But some of the play calls today did not put the Cats in the best position for success. Exhibit one was the read option call in the UK end zone that led to a safety. It should be an easy decision to just line the ball up and either sneak Calzada for some breathing room or straight handoff to bulldozers Dowdell and McGowan. The Cats also missed some third down conversions with short passes that left the receivers short of any first down yardage. The play calls must improve if the Cats have any hope to be successful in 2025.
The atmosphere. Look, I understand that a home opener against a MAC squad (even as good as Toledo) on a Saturday afternoon does not really lend itself to excitement. But the crowd did not fill the lower bowl of Kroger Field and were silent in the third quarter when everyone looked like they were watching their favorite paint dry. The atmosphere should (hopefully) be better when the Cats hook up with SEC foe Ole Miss next week.
With all that said, let us grade the Wildcats’ performance.
Offense- D. The run game keeps this score from being lower. The passing game was abysmal at every level. It must improve. The running backs and the offensive line carried the day. Thank goodness.
Defense- B. Without those last couple of scoring drives (69 and 95 yards), this score is easily an A. The unit tackled well, played clean, and Toledo quarterback Tucker Gleason wore them like a bad suit for four quarters. The Rockets also rushed for only 59 yards. Splendid work.
Special Teams- A. Kauwe made his point attempts with no misses, Laros looked like an all-conference punter, and the returners were solid. The execution was also perfect.
