Photo by Keyli Chisesi | Go Big Blue Country
Kentucky Opens the Season with a 35-20 Victory vs. Central Michigan
LEXINGTON, Ky – The Kentucky Wildcats did exactly what they needed to do in the season opener vs. Central Michigan, coming away with a 35-20 win in at Kroger Field in Lexington.
The first half was bumpy for Mark Stoops and the Wildcats; especially after a fumble by Lynn Bowden that was returned for a touchdown to give Central Michigan a 17-7 lead with 5:33 remaining in the second quarter. That’s when junior running back Benny Snell Jr. showed why he’s one of the best players in the country. Snell carried the ball up the middle, leaped through two defenders and raced his way to the end zone for a 52-yard score.
Snell led all players with 125 rushing yards and two touchdowns, despite battling a virus that sent him to the hospital for fluids on Saturday morning.
“He had a virus last night or what did (athletic trainer) Jim (Madaleno) tell me to call that,” said Mark Stoops. “He had a temperature and a viral infection, and Jim thought he’d be okay overnight. We were watching him. And he woke up and wasn’t feeling great. And so they took him to the hospital and gave him a bag of fluids and checked him out and he came back and played pretty solid.”
Terry Wilson earned the start for the Wildcats in the season opener, but after two first half interceptions, the last leading to a field goal and a 20-14 deficit, sophomore Gunnar Hoak took control of the offense.
Hoak led a 76-yard drive in the final 55 seconds of the first half, capped off by a 24-yard touchdown pass to senior David Bouvier. On the drive, Hoak and Bouvier connected on three passes for 48 yards and despite four first half turnovers, Kentucky took a 21-20 lead into the locker room.
“You know, I think early on, you know, I think we could do a better job of putting a little bit of pressure on Terry, and a lot of those plays are reads,” said Stoops. “And we’ll look into that, try to put him into a situation to get him comfortable and get him started. And I was really proud of the way Gunnar came in — I just mentioned that to the team — because the quarterback battles are always so public. And a lot of these guys that are young players, maybe redshirt a year ago are freshmen now, and they come in here and they’re used to be a superstar, and we have a lot of good players now.”
Hoak’s performance on the final drive of the first half earned him the start in the second. On his first two drives the offense failed to get things going. As a result, Stoops decided to give Wilson another shot and he appeared to be more comfortable.
“Terry was ready to play at the start of the second half, and Gunnar deserved the opportunity to go back and play for what he did at the end of the first half there,” said Stoops. And I’m glad. In a way, I mean obviously we don’t want anybody to get hurt, but to be forced into that situation, see the way Gunnar responded, and the way he played says a lot about him, like I mentioned, and then to come back in the second half — and now you gotta do the same thing with Terry. You gotta get him back in and let him get acclimated to the game and the speed of the game and get some positive energy going for the season, and so it worked out very good.”
While the quarterbacks continue to find their rhythm early on this season, the offense has two workhorse running backs to lean on. Snell and his roommate, A.J. Rose, are ready to wreak havoc on the SEC, but Central Michigan fell victim first.
Rose bloomed during the blue/white game last spring and he showed that performance was just the beginning. The redshirt sophomore from Cleveland, OH., got things started for the Cats in the first quarter with a 55-yard touchdown run down the sideline.
“You know, when he broke off that long one in the first half, it was nice watching him, because you saw another gear in a big, strong guy that can run like that. So it was good to see.”
His 55-yard run in the first half wasn’t his only highlight of night. With 14:53 remaining in the game, Rose took a snap in the Wildcat formation and used his momentum to plunge into the end zone from four yards out to set the final score at 35-20. In addition to 125 yards from Snell, Rose added 104 yards on eight carries, the first time two Kentucky players have rushed for 100 yards since Snell and Boom Williams did so in 2016 vs. Missouri.
The win gives Kentucky a 7-0 advantage in the series with Central Michigan. The Wildcats are now 4-2 under Mark Stoops in season openers.
Next Up: Kentucky travels to Gainesville for a showdown with Florida next Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET. on the SEC Network. Kentucky takes aim at trying to end an embarrassing 31-game losing streak to the Gators.
