Compiled by UK Athletics
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY VS. CHATTANOOGA
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
SEPT. 18, 2021
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 28, Chattanooga 23
Team Records and Series Information
Kentucky is 3-0 overall. Chattanooga is 1-2.
UK is 3-0 for the third time under Coach Mark Stoops, also 2017 and 2018.
This was the first meeting between the teams.
Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats have their first road trip of the season Saturday at South Carolina. Game time is 7 p.m. and it will be televised by ESPN2.
Team Notes
Kentucky has returned to .500 overall all-time, for the first time since 2012, with an all-time mark of 632-632-44.
Kentucky has won 13 consecutive non-conference games, the third-longest active streak in the nation.
It is UK’s longest non-conference win streak since 2006-09 when the Wildcats won 18 in a row.
Since 2016, UK is 17-7 in games decided by seven points or less. UK has won its last four in a row in this category, including 2-0 this season.
The last time UK won back-to-back games by seven points or less was 2018 with close victories over Vanderbilt and Missouri.
Since 1953, UK has won 23 games in a row against teams currently in the Football Championship Subdivision. The FCS was created as Division I-AA in 1978, changing the name to FCS in 2006. UK began playing teams in Division I-AA/FCS in 1998 and is 19-0 since that time.
UK has scored 28 points in each of the first three games for the first time since 2007.
Coach Mark Stoops
Coach Stoops is in his ninth season as head coach of the Wildcats, tying Fran Curci (1973-81) for most seasons as head coach at UK.
Stoops holds UK records for games coached (102) and most home wins by a head coach (38).
This was Stoops’ 52nd win as UK head coach. Paul “Bear” Bryant holds the school record with 60 victories.
Stoops is now 52-50 at Kentucky. After two games of the 2016 season, his record was 12-26 but has gone 40-24 (.625) since.
Player Notes
· Junior quarterback Will Levis completed 23 of 35 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns.
Levis added 18 yards on three carries, including a key 21-yard scramble on a third-and-two play, keeping alive UK’s go-ahead touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.
With starting lineups available since 1993, he is the third quarterback since that time to win his first three starts – also Terry Wilson (2018) and Mike Hartline (2008).
He has seven touchdown passes this season, most for a UK quarterback in their first three starts at UK since Jared Lorenzen had eight TD tosses in his first three starts in 2000.
· Junior running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. rushed 13 times for 46 yards.
He has 1,739 career rushing yards, moving past Rodger Bird and Jojo Kemp into 14th place in school history.
· Honoring teammate Chris Oats by wearing Oats’ jersey number (22), junior running back Kavosiey Smoke ran seven times for 27 yards.
He has 982 career rushing yards, needs 18 yards to become the 41st player in school history with 1,000.
· Junior wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson caught eight passes for 111 yards.
He is the first Wildcat to have three-straight 100-yard receiving games since Derek Abney in 2001.
He is the first Wildcat to have three-straight 100-yard receiving games to begin a season.
It is the fifth 100-yard game of his collegiate career, including two at Nebraska.
· Senior wide receiver Josh Ali caught five passes for 53 yards.
He had an 11-yard rushing touchdown on the game’s first possession. It is his first collegiate rushing TD.
He made a great play to recover Chattanooga’s onside kick with 1:19 remaining to preserve the victory.
He has 102 career receptions and became the 18th player in school to history to catch at least 100 passes.
He has 1,065 career receiving yards, moving past C.J. Conrad, Demarco Robinson and Derek Homer for 28th place on the UK career yardage list.
· Junior wide receiver Isaiah Epps caught two passes for 21 yards, including his first collegiate touchdown, a 20-yard reception in the second quarter.
· Sophomore tight end Izayah Cummings caught his first collegiate touchdown pass, a 31-yard play in the fourth quarter.
· Senior safety Tyrell Ajian had a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
It is his first collegiate score and the fourth interception of his career.
It ties for the third-longest interception return in school history and the longest since David Johnson’s 95-yard TD return at Cincinnati in 1986.
It is the longest UK interception return in Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field history.
· Sophomore cornerback Carrington Valentine had a career-high 11 tackles.
· Senior linebacker Jacquez Jones had nine tackles, his most at UK.
He also broke up a pass that saved a likely Chattanooga touchdown.
· Senior safety Yusuf Corker had six tackles and tied his career best for pass breakups with two.
· Making his first collegiate start, sophomore linebacker J.J. Weaver made four tackles, including a three-yard tackle for loss.
He has made at least one TFL in each of the first three games.
· Senior defensive end Josh Paschal made two tackles, both of which were for loss. He also had three quarterback hurries.
· Senior punter Colin Goodfellow made his first appearance of the season. He punted four times for a 50.5-yard average, including two that were inside the opponent 20-yard line.
· Game captains for today were Josh Paschal, Josh Ali, Yusuf Corker and Luke Fortner.
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