Stats that stood out from Kentucky’s 20-17 upset win over No. 6 Ole Miss

Kentucky has pulled off arguably the biggest upset of the Mark Stoops era by beating No. 6 Ole Miss on the road. Thanks to a critical drive in the fourth quarter, highlighted by a fourth down catch from Barion Brown, the Wildcats were able to limit Lane Kiffin’s high-powered offense in a 20-17 victory.

We’ve come a long way since the 31-6 loss to South Carolina in such a small amount of time.

Whenever you upset a Top 10 opponent on the road, history is typically made. Kentucky did that in several regards on Saturday in Oxford. Below are some of the standout stats from the Wildcats’ massive win.

• Kentucky had not beaten Ole Miss in Oxford since 1978. It also marked the highest-ranked opponent beaten by a Mark Stoops-coached Kentucky team. Previously, No. 9 Louisville (2023) was the highest-ranked win for the ‘Cats under Stoops. The last time UK won a true road game against a team ranked as highly as Ole Miss was Oct. 1977 against Penn State. It was also the first road win against a Top 10 SEC team since 1964.
• Dane Key, who finished with a career-high eight catches for 108 yards (his third career 100-yard game) and a touchdown, recorded his 100th career reception. He became the 21st player in program history to reach that mark. Key’s teammate, Barion Brown, also caught his 100th career reception earlier this season. Brown now has 110 career receptions for 1,345 yards.
• More on Key: the Lexington native reached 1,500 career receiving yards during the win, becoming the 11th player in school history to do so. Key is the first UK wide receiver with back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Wan’Dale Robinson, who did it three straight times to start the 2021 season.
• D’Eryk Jackson also reached a big milestone by recording his 200th career tackle. He finished with seven tackles (putting him aat 204 for his career) and 1.5 tackles for loss against Ole Miss.
• The Rebels came into this game having scored at least 40 points in all four outings this season with a per-game average of 55 points. Kentucky held Ole Miss to just 17 points, the lowest they’ve scored in an SEC home game under Lane Kiffin (2020). The Rebels entered Saturday averaging 670 yards of offense per game but were held to just 353 against UK. The Wildcats nearly shut down arguably the best offense in college football to this point.
• Brock Vandagriff had more passing yards than Heisman candidate Jaxson Dart for most of the game until Dart surpassed him late in the fourth quarter. Vandagriff finished with a career-high 243 passing yards (18-28) and one touchdown while Dart posted 261 passing yards (18-27) and one touchdown.
• Kentucky owned the time of possession, 39:43 to 20:17, and reached 22 first downs compared to just 14 for Ole Miss. The Wildcats were able to get off 19 more plays (75-56) on offense.
• On the ground, Kentucky outgained Ole Miss 93-92. Demie Sumo-Karngbaye led the way with 47 yards on 11 carries. 92 yards by the Rebels is the lowest allowed by UK against a Top 10 opponent since Sept. 2020 against Auburn.
• Career-highs: DB JQ Hardaway recorded a career-best 11 tackles and the first forced fumble of his career. DL Octavious Oxendine posted a career-high two sacks. JJ Weaver is now up to 19.5 sacks (one against Ole Miss) for his career, putting him at fourth overall on UK’s all-time list.