Splash plays give Kentucky needed cushion in win over Eastern Kentucky
Winning ugly is better than losing pretty. That’s what many across the Commonwealth will be saying over the next 24 hours as a sluggish first-half performance by Kentucky’s offense was followed by a sluggish second-half performance by Kentucky’s defense. However, the team did just enough to escape disaster.
In Saturday’s 28-17 win over Eastern Kentucky at Kroger Field, super senior wide receiver Tayvion Robinson was the star giving the offense a much-needed spark. His performance was the story of the game, but others chipped in.
Three notable splash plays were key to Kentucky pulling away from Walt Wells‘ scrappy Colonels on Saturday afternoon in Lexington.
Maxwell Hairston’s first interception comes at a key time
Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary threw an interception on third down to ruin a scoring opportunity. EKU got the ball back with a ton of momentum. After a personal foul call against the Wildcats, the Colonels all of a sudden had a scoring opportunity of their own with a first-and-10 at the Kentucky 37.
Luckily, the Wildcats made a huge play on the very next snap.
A pressure by Deone Walker forces an errant throw by Parker McKinney, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Maxwell Hairston makes the Colonels pay with his first career interception. Kentucky would not do anything with its next drive as EKU forced a punt from the Kentucky 37, but the takeaway prevented EKU from taking a double-digit lead in the second quarter.
Scoring opportunity takeaways are significant in college football. Kentucky got a big one on Saturday.
Barion Brown makes another big return
Eastern Kentucky smartly kicked away from Barion Brown on kickoffs. However, Kentucky is just using their electric sophomore wide receiver on kickoffs only. After burning some timeouts while forcing an EKU punt from their own 21, the Wildcats turned to Brown to make a play.
The former top-100 recruit delivered.
Brown uses his speed to get to the right sideline from near the left hash as a good block from Jantzen Dunn starts the return. The 36-yard return gives Kentucky a first down just outside the red zone. One play later, Devin Leary hits Tayvion Robinson in the back of the endzone to finally get Kentucky on the board.
Brown’s big return helped flip the game and give the Wildcats some momentum heading into halftime.
Kentucky’s offense lands a 4th quarter counterpunch
The defense kept Kentucky in the game during the first half as the offense rode the struggle bus. However, the two units flipped in the second half. After taking a 21-10 lead with 1:47 left in the third quarter, EKU marched 75 yards using nine plays and taking nearly five minutes off the game clock to cut the lead to 21-17 with 12:04 remaining in the game.
Liam Coen’s offense responded with its most dominant possession of the night.
The Wildcats recorded a 100 percent success rate on a six-play, 65-yard touchdown drive that ended with Devin Leary finding Ray Davis on a rail route out of the backfield.
Leary delivers the ball on the money, and Davis extends his body at the end to score his third touchdown in two weeks. The drive ended the game on Saturday as the offense picked up the defense when they needed a pickup on Saturday.
The Wildcats delivered the splash plays when required.
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