Kentucky's Solid Performance Not Enough as Texas Win 16-13 in Overtime

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By Jamie H. Vaught

KySportsStyle.com Magazine

It was very nice to see a couple of former UK football coaches at Kroger Field Saturday night for school's annual homecoming celebration.

But the postgame celebration unfortunately didn't happen for Fran Curci, 87, and Rich Brooks, 84. They saw the Wildcats play a solid game against No. 21 Texas before dropping a heartbreaker with a 16-13 setback in overtime.

"(It was a) very difficult loss for our players," said a dejected Kentucky coach Mark Stoops.

With the loss, UK drops to 2-4 overall (0-4 in SEC) while the Longhorns improve to 5-2 (2-1 SEC).

It was Texas' first-ever matchup in Lexington as both schools have only met twice -- both times in Austin (last season when UK lost 31-14 and once in 1951).

Kentucky QB Cutter Boley had an outstanding performance against Texas Saturday night. (Photo by Wayne Mason)

Kentucky had opportunities to win but couldn't take advantage of them. In overtime, for instance, the hapless Longhorns managed to keep UK out of the end zone with a goal-line stand before coming up with a game-winning 45-yard field goal by Mason Shipley.

UK redshirt freshman quarterback Cutter Boley outplayed UT QB Arch Manning with 31 of 39 passing attempts with a career-high 258 yards and only one interception. Manning had 132 yards on 12 of 27 passing.

A consensus four-star recruit from Lexington Christian Academy, Boley also rushed for a career-best 45 net yards in 14 carries with an average of 3.2, including the first rushing TD of his career.

On his running performance, Boley said, “Obviously, I am an athlete. I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t. I’m definitely not immobile, but I can make plays with my feet, and that’s something this team kind of needs, and I am going to have to keep doing that.”

As for the total offense, Kentucky gained 395 yards against a Texas defense that entered the game 11th in the nation in total defense while Texas only had 179 yards.

Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said Manning needs help from the offensive line. "I think one, we need to play better upfront to protect him," said the coach. "It’s not fun when you’re a quarterback and you’re getting hit. It was way too leaky for him and in turn that can create some uneasiness."

UK faces rival Tennessee at Kroger Field Saturday night. The 7:45 p.m. ET game will be televised by the SEC Network. Texas will visit Mississippi State Saturday afternoon and the game will be shown on SEC Network.