Kentucky Runs for 390 Yards and Buries South Alabama
Kentucky carried the ball 42 times and gained 390 yards, which works out to 9.3 a carry. South Alabama could not do anything about it, and the Wildcats won 45-21 after a first half that was closer than the final suggests.
It was a real game for a while. CJ Baxter scored from three yards out at 0:37 of the first quarter, South Alabama came back with a PJ Martin run and a 36-yard Jared Hollins touchdown pass to Anthony Eager for a 14-7 lead, and the teams traded scores from there. Jovantae Barnes tied it at 14-14 with a seven-yard run, Hollins found Jeremiah Jones-Thomas from 19 yards to make it 21-14 with 1:22 left in the half, and then came the swing. Ten seconds later Jason Patterson ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run to tie it at 21-21, and Adam Zouagui's 34-yard field goal with 16 seconds left sent Kentucky to the locker room up 24-21.
South Alabama never scored again. Patterson ran 15 yards for a touchdown at 13:13 of the third, added a two-yard score at 12:55 of the fourth, and Kenny Minchey hit Shane Carr from 15 yards at 10:45 to make it 45-21. That is 31 straight points after the Jaguars' last lead. Hollins threw two interceptions and Kentucky threw none, though the Wildcats did lose two fumbles.
South Alabama was not totally out of it statistically: 369 yards, 266 of them passing, and Hollins went 23 of 43. But Kentucky's 567 yards were far more than that, and the rush attack carried the day. Minchey needed only 19 of 25 for 177 yards and one touchdown.
Kentucky moves to 3-1 and South Alabama drops to 2-2. For fantasy, Patterson and Baxter were both startable on the same team, which is a rare treat, and Hollins made the list even with two picks.