Kentucky leads Ball State at the half, but lost Kenneth Horsey to injury
Through one half in Lexington, Kentucky and Ball State are in a tighter battle than the Big Blue Nation expected to see in the season opener at Kroger Field. There is also a significant injury to the Big Big Wall that never should’ve happened.
In the beginning, Kentucky won the coin toss and surprised some of the audience by electing to receive the opening kickoff. Then, on the first play from scrimmage in 2023, Devin Leary hit Dane Key in the middle of the field for a 44-yard gain down to the Ball State 31-yard line. One play later, Barion Brown caught his first pass from his new QB for seven yards. However, the ‘Cats were unable to find the end zone after those two early connections, settling for Alex Raynor‘s first field goal of the season instead. Raynor connected from 41 yards for the game’s first points. Kentucky did not run the ball on its first possession.
When Ball State took over, Kentucky’s defense forced a three-and-out, only to punt the ball right back to the Cardinals after the Wildcats’ offense failed to move the ball beyond a 26-yard carry by Ray Davis. The offense struggled early, from pass protection to dropped passes, an all too familiar slow start out of the gate.
Matters got worse when Ball State drove 75 yards on 13 plays to score the game’s first touchdown, giving the Cardinals their first lead into the second quarter, 7-3.
Cats respond in the second quarter
Kentucky didn’t need long to regain the lead after the sluggish start. The Wildcats responded to Ball State’s touchdown with one of their own, a two-yard run by Ray Davis for his first end zone appearance in Kentucky blue.
The defense got in on the touchdown fun five minutes later when Alex Afari rocked Ball State’s Tanner Koziol after a nine-yard, third-down gain, freeing up the football for Jalen Geiger‘s scoop and score. Geiger took the fumble recovery 69 yards to give Kentucky the 17-7 lead with five minutes left in the half.
Early whistle cost Kentucky another defensive TD
With a little over a minute to go before halftime, the officiating crew blew a play dead as Jordan Lovett took another Ball State fumble home for a touchdown. Kentucky kept the ball after a review, but it cost the defense a second score in the quarter, and Big Blue Nation expressed its disappointment in Kroger Field with a roar of boos.
Mark Stoops expressed more than disappointment.
To add injury to insult, Kentucky also lost Kenneth Horsey a couple of plays later when the offense never should’ve been on the field. The veteran guard and team captain was carted off into the locker room for evaluation.
The Cats settled for three, then another field goal on the last drive before the halftime buzzer, bringing us to the halftime score of Kentucky 23, Ball State 7.
Raynor is a perfect 3-for-3 in his Kentucky debut.
Check out the numbers during the break.
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