Kentucky wide receiver Josh Kattus recovered a teammate’s fumble in the end zone with 2:25 remaining as the Wildcats rallied to upset No. 6 Mississippi 20-17. The win marked the highest AP-ranked win in the 12-yard coaching career of Stoops, whose club was coming off a heartbreaking near-miss 13-12 loss to then-No. 1.Georgia on Sept. 14.
OXFORD, Miss. — Kentucky upset No. 6 Ole Miss, 20-17, on Saturday, when Rebels kicker Caden Davis hooked a 48-yard field-goal attempt way wide with 48 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Wildcats their highest-ranked win of coach Mark Stoops’ 12-year career.
“It was our kind of game. A dirty, ugly, hard-fought game,” Stoops said. “We went out and did what we had to do. We played our way. I know it’s only one game, but it was a very important game for us. Obviously, I could not be more proud of this team.”
The Rebels (4-0, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) had a seven-game winning streak snapped and were shocked as a double-digit favorite in their SEC opener.
The Wildcats (3-2, 1-2) took a three-point lead with 2:25 left in the fourth quarter, with a little fumble luck. Backup quarterback Gavin
Wimsatt was heading toward the goal line with a keeper when an Ole Miss defender knocked the ball free — right to tight end Josh Kattus, who fell into the end zone.
Two weeks after Stoops faced criticism for not being aggressive enough late in the game on fourth down in a 13-12 loss against Georgia, the Wildcats go-ahead drive was kept alive with a 63-yard completion from
Brock Vandagriff to Barion Brown on fourth-and-7 at the Kentucky 20. Vandagriff passed for 243 yards and a touchdown, helping Kentucky play keep-away from the Rebels’ high-powered offense. The Wildcats held the ball for nearly 40 minutes.
Jaxson Dart converted a fourth-and-11 with a 42-yard pass to Caden Prieskorn on the Rebels’ final drive, but two plays later Dart took a sack that sent Ole Miss the wrong way as it tried to get in field-goal range.
Davis’ potential tying kick came on a fourth-and-7.Dart finished with 261 yards passing, but after Ole Miss averaged 55 points against over matched non conference opponents, the Rebels only found the end zone once after an opening drive touchdown.
“Beyond disappointing. It’s a disappointing day,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “The game comes down at the end with us having a chance to win in every phase and we didn’t do it. Got to give credit to Stoops.”
Tre Harris led the Rebels with 11 receptions for 176 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown that gave the Rebels a 17-13 lead. Jaxson Dart was 18 of 27 passing for 261 yards and converted twice in fourth down situations.
Vandagriff was 18 of 28 passing for 243 yards with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Dane Key as the Wildcats led 10-7 at halftime. Key finished with 8 receptions for 105 yards.
“All I can tell you is Stoops is in the air in the locker room,” Key said. “That’s a pretty good thing.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Kentucky: The combination of winning the turnover battle (1-0), effectiveness in the red zone (3 of 3) and converting on fourth down (3 of 3) proved to be the difference. The defense – clearly the team strong suit – has given up only 36 points in the last three starts, including
two games against highly-ranked opponents. The road win ranks among the biggest in the Mark Stoops and enhances Kentucky’s chances of extending an active bowl streak to nine years.
“On the critical downs, we made the critical plays,” Stoops said. “We were not sloppy, we got a turnover and we’ve gotten better every week.”
Ole Miss: Rarely has losing an SEC home opener been as costly. The Rebels were battling a perception problem despite opening with four blowout wins, a No. 6 ranking in the AP Top 25 poll and 15 wins in the last 17 starts. Ole Miss will need a strong October bounce back against a schedule that includes three road games and home dates with No. 21 Oklahoma and No. 2 Georgia to regain postseason playoff consideration.
BIG PLAY DEFENSE
The Kentucky defensive limited Ole Miss to season-lows in nearly every statistical categories, allowing 353 total yards. The Wildcats had seven tackles for loss, four sacks and held the Rebels to 1-of-10 in third down conversion attempts.
“Our coaches have preached consistency and we really had a lot of confidence coming into this game,” said Octavious Oxendine, recording two of the four Kentucky sacks.
POLL IMPLICATIONS
How far will the Rebels drop after losing an SEC home opener? The highest-ranked team with one loss is No. 12 Michigan. The Top 25 poll has nine other teams with one loss, so Ole Miss figures to land within that ranking level.
UP NEXT
Kentucky is idle.
Ole Miss visits South Carolina on Saturday.
