UK POSTGAME NOTES: Cats Stop Missouri 35-28
Compiled by UK Athletics
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES
KENTUCKY VS. MIZZOU
KROGER FIELD – LEXINGTON, KY.
SEPT. 11, 2021
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 35, Missouri 28
Team Records and Series Information
Kentucky is 2-0 overall, 1-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Missouri is 1-1 overall, 0-1 in the SEC.
UK is 2-0 for the fourth time in the last five years.
Kentucky leads the series 8-4 and has won six of the last seven.
UK leads the series 5-1 in games played in Lexington.
Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats complete their three-game homestand Saturday, Sept. 18, by playing host to Chattanooga. Game time is noon and it will be televised on ESPN+/SEC Network+.
Team Notes
Going to back to last season, UK has won three consecutive SEC home games for the first time since 2018.
Kentucky scored 35 points, most in an SEC opener since a 42-29 win at Arkansas in 2007.
UK scored at least 35 points in the first two games of the season for the first time since 2019 and the fourth time since 1985.
UK had 519 total offensive yards. It is the first time in school history that UK has opened the season with two straight 500-yard games.
Kentucky made 66.7 percent of its third-down conversions (8 of 12), best since converting 72.7 percent (8 of 11) against Vanderbilt in 2019.
Since 2016, UK is 16-7 in games decided by seven points or less, including the last three in a row.
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.
This was Stoops 101st game as UK head coach, breaking Curci’s record of 100 games as coach of the Cats.
This was Stoops’ 25th SEC win, tying Curci’s school record for most conference victories.
This was Stoops’ 51st overall win as UK head coach. Paul “Bear” Bryant holds the school record with 60 victories.
Stoops is now 51-50 at Kentucky and is above .500 for the first time. After two games of the 2016 season, his record was 12-26 but has gone 39-24 since.
Player Notes
· Junior quarterback Will Levis completed 10 of 18 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown.
Despite two sacks, he rushed 11 times for a net 25 yards, including a three-yard TD run.
With starting lineups available since 1993, he is the sixth quarterback since that time to win his first two starts – also Terry Wilson (2018), Patrick Towles (2014), Morgan Newton (2009), Mike Hartline (2008) and Billy Jack Haskins (1995).
· Junior running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. rushed 27 times for 206 yards – both career highs – and tied his career best for touchdown runs with three.
He also caught a five-yard touchdown on the first possession, his first collegiate receiving TD.
His four total touchdowns tied the single-game school record. It has been done 14 times in UK history, most recently by Lynn Bowden Jr. vs. Louisville in 2019.
His 206 rushing yards are the most for a UK player vs. Missouri and broke the UK record for most rushing yards in an SEC opener.
First player since Benny Snell in 2018 to rush for 100 yards in each of the first two games.
He has 331 rushing yards this season, school record for a UK player in the first two games of a season.
He has 1,692 career rushing yards, moving past Lynn Bowden, Al Baker, Raymond Sanders, Steve Campassi, Bill Leskovar, Ivy Joe Hunter and Derek Homer into 16th place in school history.
Rodriguez has rushed for a touchdown in five consecutive games, second-longest streak in school history.
He became the 10th player in school history with at least 20 rushing touchdowns (now has 21).
· Junior running back Kavosiey Smoke ran eight times for 39 yards.
He has 955 career rushing yards. He needs 45 to become the 41st player in school history to reach 1,000.
· Junior wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson caught five passes for 101 yards.
He is the first Wildcat to have back-to-back 100-yard receiving games since Jeff Badet in 2016.
He is the first Wildcat to have 100-yard receiving games in the first two games of a season since Craig Yeast in 1998.
He is the first Wildcat with a 100-yard receiving game in an SEC opener since Garrett Johnson at Florida in 2014.
It is the fourth 100-yard game of his collegiate career, including two at Nebraska.
He also had a career-long 64-yard run on the first possession, setting up a touchdown pass to Chris Rodriguez. He finished with three carries for 73 yards
· Senior wide receiver Josh Ali caught two passes for 30 yards.
He has 97 career receptions, needs three more to become the 17th player in school to history to catch at least 100 passes.
He became the 31st player in school history to reach 1,000 and now has 1,012.
· Senior safety Tyrell Ajian led the Wildcats with a career-high eight tackles.
· Senior linebacker Jacquez Jones got his first collegiate interception – and UK’s first takeaway of the year – with an acrobatic leaping grab on the first possession of the third quarter, setting up a UK touchdown. He added two pass breakups.
· Sophomore linebacker J.J. Weaver had a crucial eight-yard sack on Missouri’s final possession of the game. He also had a three yard tackle for loss and caused a fumble.
He now has 2.5 sacks in the first two games.
· First time starters: sophomore tight end Izayah Cummings.
