(WKYT) – Kentucky Football’s rough second half leads to 45-17 loss against No. 12 Alabama in the Cats SEC opener.
Kentucky (1-1, 0-1 SEC) led at halftime by four and was shutout 32-0 in the second half.
UK quarterback Kenny Minchey went 18-31 for 146 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. Jason Patterson had 11 carries for 53 yards. Willie Rodriguez had 8 receptions for 49 yards. Henry Boyer’s lone reception was the 20-yard touchdown catch.
Kentucky received the football first and earned a few first downs before punting the ball away. On the first defensive snap, Grant Godfrey sacked Keelon Russell and caused an intentional grounding. That put the Tide back near the goal line. On the third play of the drive, Russell attempts to pass but its batted, caught, and returned for a touchdown by Kentucky defensive lineman Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace to put Kentucky up 7-0 early.
Alabama’s (2-0, 1-0 SEC) defense had a response of its own two series later, Kentucky quarterback Kenny Minchey tried to extend a play but his pass was interception by Luke Metz and he returned it for a touchdown to tie it up.
The Cats would retake the lead at the start of the second quarter after a play action pass led to a wide open 20-yard pass to Henry Boyer for the touchdown, putting UK back up 14-7.
Kentucky’s defense was the highlight of the first half, holding Alabama to two field goals before the Cats responded with a field goal to end the half after UK safety Jordan Castell picked off Russell. Kentucky led 17-13 at the half.
Kentucky’s defense had 4 first half sacks along with 7 tackles for loss and two interceptions.
In the second half, the Alabama defense put a lot more pressure on the cats and getting to Minchey in the backfield. Kentucky didn’t have a drive of more than five plays the entire third quarter, which allowed Alabama’s offense to wear down the Kentucky defense.
After punting on its first drive of the half, Alabama scored on three straight with a field goal followed by back-to-back touchdowns. The final touchdown of the quarter coming off a failed fake punt attempt by Kentucky.
Alabama would go on to take over the end of the game, scoring on nearly all of its second half possessions and giving the Cats their first SEC loss of the season.
Kentucky will head on the road for its next SEC game, taking on 10th ranked Texas A&M at Kyle Field on Sept. 19th at 3:30 p.m.