Former Vanderbilt Star Davis Shines in UK's "Not So Pretty" Win over Ball State

By Jamie H. Vaught

Some leftovers from UK's season-opening 44-14 win over Ball State at Kroger Field Saturday afternoon.

**Former Vanderbilt star Ray Davis may not be another version of Benny Snell Jr., the school's all-time rushing leader, but he sure played well in his UK debut, gaining 112 yards in 14 carries with two rushing TDs, including a 30-yard run. It marked the 10th game of his career rushing for at least 100 yards, and the fourth in his last five games.

"I thought he had some really impressive runs, and not always the longer ones," said Kentucky coach Mark Stoops. "I thought he gave us a nice dimension. They made a couple of misses, and just getting those extra four, five, six, seven, ten yards sometimes is a big deal. We know he's physical and tough, and has good vision. But he can also make people miss."

Davis credits the offensive line for his successful debut. "I was excited. All props go to my O-Line. I’m going to name all of those guys: [Kenneth] Horsey, Eli [Cox], Marques [Cox], Jager [Burton], [Jeremy] Flax, and Courtland [Ford]," said the 5-foot-10, 216-pound senior. The reason why I end up in the end zone is because of those five guys, and if I’m blessed to keep ending in the end zone, it is because of those five guys.”  (Horsey suffered a leg injury in the late second half and missed the rest of the game.)

UK has one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country, entering the season, ranking in the Top 25 in career games played and the Top 15 in career games started.

For the 2022 season, Davis was fourth in SEC rushing with 1,042 total yards while at Vandy.

**Even though the Wildcats won comfortably by 30 points over a Mid-American Conference foe, it wasn't a very pretty win. Stoops wasn't that pleased with his team's performance. "As I tell the players and preach to the players all the time, we're always going respect and enjoy and appreciate any victory. Certainly one where you won by quite a bit," said the 11th-year head coach. "So we will take the good from this, and certainly there is a lot that we did good.

"I don't want to dwell on the negative, but it feels like that's what's coming out of my mouth right now. Very aggravated at a lot of things. Without giving excuses either, it's like it was one of those games it was very odd the way it was flowing with the defensive score, kick return, and then quick possession at the end of the half. Offensively, it was hard to get in a rhythm. Then defensively, again, we were aggravated at times. We knew that. I always talk about it. Everybody doesn't believe me. But they have good concepts. They're very well coached. They're good and getting some plays on us and extending drives. "

**A pair of sophomore wide receivers -- Dane Key and Barion Brown -- sparked the Kentucky offense. Key led the Cats with five receptions for a career-high 96 yards and one touchdown. Brown led UK in all-purpose yards with 156 yards, including 117 yards in kick returns and 39 yards in receptions. He also had one touchdown on a 99-yard kickoff return, which marked the second straight season opener and second career game he has scored on a kickoff return. Brown became the fourth player in school history with multiple career kickoff return touchdowns, joining Derek Abney (2), Derrick Locke (2) and Craig Yeast (3). Said Brown, "It’s a dream come true for any football player to score a touchdown on a kick return and it's a blessing."

**I thought the UK defense was impressive for the most part. Junior linebacker Trevin Wallace led the UK in total tackles with a career-high-tying 12, including six solo tackles, while adding two tackles for loss and a half sack.

**Devin Leary, a transfer QB star from N.C. State, made his Wildcat debut. He struggled at times but finished strong with 18 of 31 passes for 241 yards with only one interception, and a touchdown. He said he didn't really feel rusty in his performance even though he missed a significant portion of last season, suffering a year-ending shoulder injury. "Devin will improve a great deal. You can see the talent that he has," said Stoops.

**In his Kentucky debut, it was great to see senior Alex Raynor, a transfer kicker from Georgia Southern where he played three years, connected on all three of his field goal attempts, including one from 41 yards and two more from 46 yards. He also went 5-of-5 in extra point attempts. His two FGs from 46 yards are just one yard short of his career best.

**What grade should UK get? In my gradebook, I'd give the Wildcats a B. Too generous? Blame me.

**You can watch Ball State again on Saturday when it visits powerful Georgia. The 12 noon game will be shown on SEC Network.

**The Wildcats could score than 44 points this coming weekend when they host the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. EKU is coming off a road setback at Big 12 opponent Cincinnati and the final score was 66-13. Saturday's game at Kroger Field, beginning at 3 p.m., will be shown online (SEC Network+ or ESPN+)

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” He is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine, and a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro. You can follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.