What Kentucky football’s win vs. Youngstown State means for rest of 2022 season
Kentucky football moved to 3-0 on the 2022 season with a 31-0 win over FCS Youngstown State on Saturday.
Here is a closer look at what the win means beyond the scoreboard.
OVERCOMING A SLOW START
A week of talk about a potential letdown following Kentucky’s big win at Florida and the Wildcats moving into the top 10 of the Associated Press top 25 was not enough to avoid a flat start on offense Saturday.
Kentucky failed to score on its first three drives. Quarterback Will Levis was sacked on each of the Wildcats’ first two third downs. He then threw an interception near the goal line after UK had been gifted a short field by a blocked punt for its third drive.
UK finally broke through with a touchdown on drive No. 4, but Mark Stoops and his staff will hope the uninspiring start is enough of a wake-up call to avoid a similar scenario a week from now against Northern Illinois, a Mid-American Conference team more capable of pulling off the upset.
“No matter who we’re playing and what we’re doing, if we want to be a great team we’ve got to continue to improve in a lot of areas,” Stoops said Thursday. “Whether it’s just mentally being sharp and attentive in practice or walkthrough today, you name it, you need to have an intensity about it.”
WILDCATS ARE 3-0 AGAIN
For the fourth time in the Stoops era, Kentucky has started a season with three consecutive wins.
The Wildcats also won their first three games in 2017, 2018 and 2021. Kentucky went on to 10-win seasons in two of those years (2018 and 2021).
UK will be heavy favorites in a week against Northern Illinois before returning to SEC play at No. 20 Ole Miss on Oct. 1. Kentucky will need several more wins to match its fastest start in the Stoops era since the Wildcats started 6-0 last year.
Win at Ole Miss, and the 6-0 start appears within reach. Kentucky has home games against unranked South Carolina and Mississippi State in October before traveling to Tennessee on Oct. 29.
Kentucky has now won 18 consecutive non-conference games. That is the longest active non-conference winning streak in the country.
The win was UK’s first shutout victory since the 2009 season opener.
VALUABLE SNAPS FOR FRESHMEN
While the game did not start as quickly as Kentucky wanted and Kentucky was not able to empty its bench until late in the fourth quarter, Stoops and company were able to find some important experience for freshmen against the FCS opponent.
One of those appearances came earlier than hoped when freshman outside linebacker Keaten Wade was inserted into the lineup due to an arm injury to starter J.J. Weaver. Weaver was sidelined on the first Youngstown State drive of the game and did not return.
Freshmen Dane Key and Barion Brown combined for 11 catches and 146 receiving yards. Key scored a touchdown for the third consecutive game to open his college career. Redshirt freshman receiver Chris Lewis scored a touchdown on his first career reception just before halftime.
On defense, freshman lineman Deone Walker made his first career start. Wade and redshirt freshman lineman Kahlil Saunders combined on their first career sack. Freshman defensive back Alex Afari led the team lead in tackles.
