Devin Leary's TD pass to Ray Davis made SportsCenter's Top 10 plays

Devin Leary‘s miracle scramble on 3rd and 11 against Akron on Saturday night, which led to an unlikely Ray Davis touchdown, was easily the most exciting play of Kentucky’s young season so far.

Leary should have been sacked at least twice when the Akron defense rushed him out of the pocket late in the third quarter, but the veteran quarterback managed to float a desperate side-armed toss to Davis, who ran from one side of the field to the other before sprinting his way down the sideline and front-flipping into the endzone for a touchdown. The 58-yard score pushed Kentucky ahead 21-3, fueling the Wildcats with enough energy down the stretch to tack on a couple more touchdowns for our final score of 35-3.

Even the folks at ESPN were impressed with what these two Wildcats pulled off. The Leary-to-Davis connection earned them the No. 7 spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays from Saturday night.

Devin Leary and Ray Davis’ incredible touchdown was No. 7️⃣ on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays last night. #SCTop10 #BBN pic.twitter.com/01y7XCTqPi

— KSR (@KSRonX) September 17, 2023

While it might seem like this play was put together on the fly, it was actually something both Leary and Davis had been preparing for. Following Saturday’s win, Davis told the media that he and Leary talked about a play just like that the first day they moved to Lexington.

“We talked about it actually the first day we moved in,” Davis said. “We sat in my car and (Leary) said, ‘Hey, if there’s some play that breaks down, just try to be somewhere in that void where I can get it to you.’ We showed that kind of in Week 1 when I had that cut-block, got back up and he found me. I showed it today. He was able to evade a sack and make some things happen, be (multi) dimensional in what he can do and he was able to find me. It was all about doing what I can do after the play.”

Explosive plays are nothing new to Davis though. Just a few minutes later against the Zips, Davis exploded for a 55-yard touchdown run to begin the fourth quarter. He’s been doing it all so far on offense for the ‘Cats, whether it’s catching balls out of the backfield or running straight through the opposing defense.

Through three games so far, Davis has 33 carries for 236 yards (7.2 yards per carry) and three touchdowns on the ground while also hauling in nine receptions for 143 yards (15.9 yards per reception) and two more touchdowns through the air. Leary has been almost as impressive, too. He’s thrown for 540 yards, five touchdowns, and two interceptions with a 60.9 percent completion rate this season.

Although these two have only played three games together, the chemistry they’ve developed on the field is paying off for Kentucky. But this begs the question. What was more impressive? Leary’s throw after avoiding the sack? Or Davis’ long run for the touchdown?

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