The Cats and Colonels were in a dogfight on Saturday at Kroger Field in Lexington, where UK prevailed 28-17 over EKU.
While both teams have massive respect for one another, neither side wanted to lose.
With head coach Walt Wells leading the charge for EKU, the Colonels came out firing with a blocked punt by the Colonels Cornelius Evans. Just a couple plays later, seasoned EKU quarterback Parker McKinney turned on the jets for a 14 yard touchdown run, silencing Kentucky fans.
The Colonels defense held the Wildcats at bay until the waning seconds of the 2nd quarter where UK quarterback Devin Leary hit Tayvion Robinson in the corner of the end zone to make the game tied 7-7 at the half. EKU began the 2nd half with a march down the field and a 21 yard field goal from Patrick Nations to give EKU a 10-7 lead. After this, UK scored on back to back offensive possessions with Tayvion Robinson and Barion Brown catching touchdown passes from Devin Leary to give UK a 21-10 lead heading into the 4th quarter.
EKU again proved they could hang with the Cats, as Parker McKinney drove his team down the field and hit Braedon Slone for a nine-yard touchdown pass, cutting the Wildcats lead to four at 21-17.
The next drive proved to be enough for UK, as Devin Leary found his running back Ray Davis for a 24 yard touchdown pass which made the score 28-17 UK.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock, both Walt Wells and Mark Stoops met as they did pregame and exchanged some comments about the game.
While UK fans expected a much bigger win over an FCS opponent, they still got the important win. EKU showed they can compete and belong in the FBS discussion with their gutsy performance in Lexington.
Kentucky hosts Akron on Saturday at 7:30 looking to go 3-0 while EKU hosts Western Carolina at 6:00 for their first home game of the season. Go out and support your local college football teams in Central Kentucky.
