KSR Today: The morning after a season-opening win

Good morning, folks! Kentucky football is BACK! How are we feeling about the results 12 hours later? The Wildcats secured the opening week victory with a final score of 37-13 over Miami (OH), but the first 30 minutes of action weren’t exactly perfect. Kentucky led just 13-10 at the halftime break before starting the second half with two scores in 62 seconds and pulling away in the end.

Some question marks certainly arose throughout the first game of the season. The Big Blue Wall was not what fans have become accustomed to over the years. QB Will Levis was sacked four times and pressured every other time he dropped back in the pocket. The missing presence of Chris Rodriguez Jr. was an obvious weakness. Kentucky’s secondary was shotty at times, too.

But there were plenty of positives. Levis tossed for 303 yards and three touchdowns. A few of his throws were behind his receivers, but overall, he produced points despite being constantly pressured. The wide receiver core of Tayvion Robinson, Dane Key, and Barion Brown is legit. Tayvion Robinson has assumed the role left behind in the wake of Wan’Dale Robinson while Key and Brown look to be future stars. The tight ends got involved, too, with Brenden Bates scoring a first-quarter touchdown.

🏎💨 @BarionBrown

📺 – SECN+/ESPN+: https://t.co/eHbAz0y6Ge pic.twitter.com/vD7gvSNNLj

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 4, 2022

The positives go beyond that though. Outside of Key (check out Ryan Lemond’s reaction from Key’s first-career touchdown) and Brown, other true freshmen such as Deone Walker, Alex Afari, and Keaten Wade all made impact plays during their time on the field. Senior kicker Matt Ruffolo was automatic, connecting on all three of his field goals, including a career-high 50-yarder that he could have hit from 55 yards.

DeAndre Square and JJ Weaver also look like the defensive leaders Kentucky needs. Mark Stoops tied Paul “Bear” Bryant for the most wins in program history at 60.

Overall, there were more positives than negatives to take away from a 24-point win, but when you’re a program ranked in the Top 25 and eyeing a road date in the Swamp against a Florida team that just beat No. 7 Utah, the standards are going to be higher.

But I digress… The KSR team absolutely killed the postgame coverage last night. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

• Mark Stoops is tied with Bear Bryant on Kentucky Football’s all-time wins list
• Dane Key scores in Kentucky debut; Ryan Lemond celebrates
• Injury Report: Kentucky’s Running Back Room Takes A Hit
• Throw game, opportunistic defense helps Kentucky take care of Miami (Ohio)
• Shooters Shoot: Barion Brown predicted his Kickoff Return Touchdown on Monday
• Three Plays: Kentucky gets contributions from all phases in first win
• Everything Mark Stoops said after Kentucky’s win over Miami (OH)

KSR’s Rapid Reactions

Highlights

Facebook photo album

Postgame interviews

Mark Stoops

Will Levis

Rich Scangarello

Brad White

Barion Brown

Alex Afari

Tayvion Robinson

Keidron Smith

Deone Walker

MASSIVE weekend for volleyball

While the football ‘Cats were on the gridiron Saturday night, the No. 16 Kentucky volleyball crew was taking down a pair of ranked opponents.

UK was in Omaha, NE on Friday and Saturday for a three-game slate of matches at the 2022 Omaha Bluejay Invitational, winning the championship in the process. Kentucky began the stretch with an easy sweep over unranked Northern Iowa on Friday, but the real challenges presented themselves a day later.

Facing a doubleheader against No. 17 Creighton and No. 25 Southern California on Saturday, Kentucky swept both programs, moving to 4-1 on the season. The ‘Cats dropped the season opener to unranked Marquette, but since then, Craig Skinner’s group has looked every bit of the national power they’ve grown to become.

🏆🏆 2022 Bluejay Invitational Champs! 🏆🏆

(and 2 ranked wins today) 👀@KYBloodCenter | #WeAreUK pic.twitter.com/1VXrjQUmvi

— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) September 3, 2022

The schedule isn’t going to lighten up though. Kentucky will begin a 10-day stretch beginning this Friday, Sept. 6 that includes matchups against No. 6 Wisconsin, No. 3 Louisville, and No. 2 Nebraska — all coming at Memorial Coliseum. Beating two ranked opponents the week prior to that is a major (and necessary) momentum boost.

Louisville got spanked

The only thing that can make a Kentucky win feel even better is when it’s complemented by a Louisville loss — a bad Louisville loss, that is. The Cardinals were spanked by known football powerhouse Syracuse, losing 31-7. UL’s much-hyped quarterback Malik Cunningham threw for 152 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. That’s a QBR of 25.6. Yikes!