WATCH: Josh Ali takes a punt return 74-yards for a touchdown against Mississippi State

Kentucky wide receiver Josh Ali made his first touch back from injury count tonight against Mississippi State. He made a few defenders miss in the open field and turned on the afterburners for a 74-yard punt return for touchdown.

Watch it below.

JOSH ALI CRIB CALL. Kentucky opens the scoring on a 73-yard punt return TD! #UKvsMSST pic.twitter.com/DXhSjpAa6I

— CFB Pylon (@TheCFBPylon) October 30, 2021

The touchdown score put the Wildcats up 7-0 with 7:14 remaining in the first quarter. The punt return for touchdown by Ali was the first by a Kentucky player since Lynn Bowden, Jr. did it on Jan. 1, 2019.

Tonight is Ali’s first game back from injury for the Wildcats since he suffered a leg injury against Florida on Oct. 2. In the first four games of 2021, Ali caught 16 passes for 233 yards and one receiving touchdown. He’s a native of Hollywood, Florida and returned to practice this week to in preparation for the Mississippi State game.

His best game this season came against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks–he had five catches for 136 receiving yards and one touchdown catch in that game. The Florida native returned to Kentucky for his fifth year this season, and took advantage of the extra year granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, he pulled in 54 catches for 473 yards and a touchdown.

Academically, he graduated in May 2021 with a degree in community and leadership development. He is currently working on a second degree in communications.

Josh Ali as a high school prospect

Coming out of high school, Ali was rated as a three-star prospect. He was a four-year starter at Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Florida). On special teams, he returned a kick for touchdown in high school. The six foot wide receiver was high school teammates with current Kentucky players: B.J. Alexander, Davoan Hawkins, and Akeem Hayes. When he chose the Wildcats for college, he picked them over Central Florida and Utah.