LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky seniors Octavious Oxendine and Alex Raynor each took home Southeastern Conference Player of the Week honors for their critical performances in Kentucky’s upset of No. 6/5 Ole Miss on Saturday, the Cats’ highest Associated Press ranked road victory on an SEC campus.
Oxendine, a defensive lineman from Radcliff, Kentucky, was named SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week. He notched a pair of sacks, giving him 7.5 for his career, as UK held Ole Miss’s high-powered aerial attack mostly under wraps. The Rebels entered the game as the top-ranked scoring offense, passing offense and total offense in FBS but were held significantly below their season averages.
Oxendine’s highlights included:
Made three tackles, including a career-high two quarterback sacks (-10 yards), and added a QB hurry in Kentucky’s 20-17 upset at No. 6/5 Ole Miss
In the first quarter, his third-down sack forced a punt
Late in the second quarter, another sack coaxed the Rebels to let the clock run out on the first half
With Ole Miss entering the game leading the nation in scoring (55 points per game), total offense (670.8 yards per game) and passing offense (422.8 yards per game), Oxendine helped lead a defense that limited the Rebels to 17 points (38 below their average), 353 total yards (317.8 below their average) and 261 passing yards (161.8 below their average)
Raynor, from Kennesaw, Georgia, drilled a pair of field goals, including a 48-yarder. He now has made 14 consecutive field goal attempts, extending his school record, which he first set with 12 straight in the Ohio game. He also owns the UK school record for field goal percentage at .955 (21-of-22). Against UK’s two top-10 opponents this season, he is 6-of-6.
Raynor’s highlights against Ole Miss include:
Made both field goal attempts and both extra point tries, providing crucial points in Kentucky’s 20-17 upset at No. 6/5 Ole Miss
Connected on field goals of 27 and 48 yards
Has made all 11 field goal attempts this season, most in the nation for any kicker without a miss, and also has made every extra point
Extended his school-record streak of 14 consecutive field goals dating back to last season
14 straight also is a personal best, previously 13 in a row while at Georgia Southern
Kentucky has its first of two bye weeks this season this week before hosting Vanderbilt on Oct. 12 at Kroger Field.
Brock Vandagriff Named to Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” List
Kentucky junior quarterback Brock Vandagriff was named to the Davey O’Brien Award “Great 8” list for Week 5 for his performance in the Wildcats’ win over Ole Miss.
Vandagriff, a native of Bogart, Georgia, completed a career-high, 18-of-28 passes for a career-best 243 yards and one touchdown in the Cats’ highest-ever Associated Press ranked road victory on a Southeastern Conference campus.
Trailing 17-13 with four minutes left, on 4th-and-7 from his own 20-yard line, his 63-yard bomb to junior wide receiver Barion Brown set up Kentucky’s game-winning touchdown.
On non-sack rushing plays, Vandagriff ran or scrambled 12 times for 48 yards, including five first downs.
The signal caller orchestrated Kentucky’s offense to 20 points, 336 yards total offense, 93 rushing yards and 243 passing yards against an Ole Miss team that entered the game first in the nation in scoring defense (5.5 points per game) and rushing defense (34.5 yards per game) while rating 12th in the nation in total defense (239 yards per game).
Vandagriff also did a good job keeping the potent Ole Miss offense off the field. Guiding UK to 22 first downs, converting three-of-three on fourth downs and committing no turnovers, the Wildcats ran 75 plays and occupied 39:43 time of possession. Ole Miss ended with 56 plays and just 20:17 time of possession.
The Davey O’Brien National Quarterback of the Week, selected from the Great 8 list, will be announced Tuesday at noon (ET).
Vandagriff now has been officially added to the Davey O'Brien Award Watch List and is eligible to be named the 2024 Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award winner. The Davey O’Brien Foundation was created in 1977, and the National Quarterback Award, the oldest and most prestigious college quarterback award, was first issued in 1981.
Comments