This is what it feels like to have fun at football games

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="600"] Photo by Chet White | UK Athletics[/caption] If you didn't watch the game, I'm sorry.  After two years of pain and agony in the Kentucky Football program, Mark Stoops busted through the locker room door into a new era of fun football.  "This is the most fun I've had in a football game since November, 2012 probably," Neal Brown said after the game.  Today's 52-14 victory will have the BBN smiling all week. The Cats were stopped on their first drive, but once the nerves were gone the momentum could not be stopped.  Pat Towles hit Javess Blue in stride 35 yards down the field to set up a JoJo Kemp touchdown.  Kemp was quickly one-upped by Braylon Heard, who had 116 yards on only two carries for a pair of touchdowns. The numbers only get better, finishing with 656 yards of offense.  No matter what the haters say, don't let them take our joy away this glorious Labor Day weekend.

The running backs lived up to the hype

I'd say six touchdowns on the ground is a good day at the office.  Braylon's day was obviously amazing, but you can't stop there.  Jojo had some slick spin moves, even though he only had eight carries.  Stanley Williams didn't make a Boom today, but he received a ton of touches early in the game.  Today's surprise Boomer was Mikel Horton.  The power back was stuffed on a 4th down on the first drive but he didn't let it affect him, finishing with 45 yards and 2 touchdowns on only 7 carries. Now, we just gotta keep em healthy.

Patty Ice didn't play like a first-time starter 

Patrick Towles made some throws today that the BBN hasn't seen in awhile.  He connected on deep balls to Bone, Blue and Timmons, he ran for a score, and most importantly he made the routine plays.  He converted well on 3rd-and-long, but they were so good with routine first down plays that they didn't NEED to make many big plays on 3rd down. Pat finished the game 20-29 for 377 yards and a passing touchdown to Blake Bone. AJ Stamps could not have introduced himself to the BBN any better.  His one-handed interception might be the highlight of the season, and it was barely a quarter into the game.  When Stamps attacks a play, all you see is a blurry #1 streaking across the turf.  He had not one or two big hits, it was more like five.  Oh and he led the team in tackles with eight, no big deal. AJ, you have earned the KSR Stamp of Approval. #Puns

Stoops' Troops are now turnover experts

Last year the Cats had three interceptions.  Today they had two.  Finishing the game with 5 takeaways, Mark Stoops' defense has figured something out, and the Bad Boyz aren't going to slow down anytime soon.  Playing til the whistle blows, Khalid Henderson scooped and went 89-yards for the score. All that's left to figure out, is for the fans to Geek when they play "Bad Boys" at Commonwealth.

The new guys did everything and more

You name a new guy that played and I can talk to you about how good they played.  Baker and Bone caught passes long and short (Sorry Baker, but the Ghost's TD and 39 sky-high grab were better).  Garrett "Juice" Johnson had a pair of big grabs.  Matt Elam stuffed the the line, appropriately making his first tackle with only one arm.  Kendall Randolph, probably Stoops' favorite freshman, forced a fumble and recovered one, hitting the quarterback a couple of times from the nickel spot. To put it into perspective, the Cats' new guys combined for five touchdowns and 335 of the 656 total yards of offense.

The Cats were crossed by one of their own

Will Tanner was a UK walk-on wide receiver for the last three years before transferring to UT-Martin to finish his footballing days.  He led the Skyhawks in receiving with 4 catches for 61 yards.  His catch on 4th and 14 late in the 4th quarter killed the Cats' shot at their first CWS shutout since 1996.  

An abridged injury report

Javess Blue was stellar from the start, but an ankle injury kept him out of the game for close to three quarters, dressed in street clothes for the second half.  Ashely Lowery banged up his right hand, Jojo Kemp took some time out for cramps, and Ryan Timmons was banged up for awhile before reentering the game.  Braylon Heard only had two carries because he tweaked something too. The Cats didn't have the worst injuries: the line judge had to be sidelined for a bit and a UK cheerleader took a rough hit on the sideline late in the game.