Kentucky Makes Late QB Switch, Misses Opportunity in 30-23 Loss to Ole Miss

Kentucky had a chance to knock off a Top 20 foe at Kroger Field. Ole Miss landed plenty of knockout punches, but the Cats still had a chance in the fourth quarter to pull off the stunner. Kentucky just couldn’t make one or two winning plays late, ultimately falling 30-23 to lose their eighth-straight SEC game.

Kroger Field was rocking and rolling when the Wildcats capitalized on early Ole Miss miscues. Kentucky led 10-0 before Austin Simmons got comfortable in Lane Kiffin’s offense. In his first SEC start, the Ole Miss southpaw completed 13-24 passes for 234 yards and a rushing touchdown.

Lifeless a week ago, all eyes were on the Kentucky offense to see if they could live up to the cliche that the greatest improvements are made from week one to week two. That’s much easier said than done.

Kentucky had six three-and-outs. It felt like the game was over on multiple occasions, but the defense kept it within arm’s reach.

Cutter Boley Enters Late for Calzada

All hope felt lost when the Cats went for it on fourth down inside the red zone, and the pass by Zach Calzada was thrown out of bounds. He suffered an injury on the drive, giving the keys of the offense to Cutter Boley as Kentucky trailed by a touchdown with six minutes to play.

Seth McGowan drew a pass interference on the first play. Dante Dowdell picked up 15 yards on the second snap. The crowd nearly went into a frenzy when Boley had an open Willie Rodriguez in the end zone, but it was just out of reach.

Unfortunately, the energy in the stadium never reached a crescendo. On third and long, Bush Hamdan called a designed QB run. Forced to go for it on fourth and long, Boley was sacked, effectively serving as the dagger.

Trailing by seven, Kentucky had the ball inside the Ole Miss 30-yard line twice in the fourth quarter and couldn’t land the equalizer.

Ty Bryant Shines

Kentucky had all of the early momentum, thanks to a pair of big plays from the Lexington native. Ty Bryant picked off Austin Simmons not once, but twice.

The two takeaways gave the Wildcats the ball in scoring position. Seth McGowan turned the first into a 9-yard touchdown. Kentucky couldn’t punch it in following the second pick, but it was enough to take an early 10-0 lead.

So nice he did it TWICE 😼

📺 – ABC pic.twitter.com/PFWT13rnq7

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 6, 2025

Unfortunately, Simmons cleaned up his act. The Ole Miss offense got rolling and scored 14 unanswered before the Cats struck back.

Sloppy Kentucky Offensive Operation

The story of the first half should have been about Ty Bryant. Instead, the focus was on Kentucky’s offensive operation. Simply put, the Cats couldn’t get lined up to run a play.

The Cats had to burn three timeouts because of late substitutions. Kentucky’s communication system had errors, but that’s not what caused the chaos coming out of a kickoff that forced them to use their third timeout. That could have come in handy when Kentucky was driving, trying to get in another field goal attempt before halftime.

One Last Gasp for Kentucky

The game really felt over when Kentucky opened the second half with a pair of three-and-outs, but sure enough, the offense showed some resolve. Seth McGowan got hot, just in time for Ole Miss to get overly-aggressive. They dialed up a cornerback blitz and Ja’Mori Maclin made them pay. His 44-yard catch is the longest reception of the season. Two plays later, McGowan was in the end zone. The New Mexico State transfer had 88 yards and two scores.

Unfortunately, Ole Miss had another counterpunch. The game was only tied for three minutes. Kentucky did not have one more in them. The Rebels kicked a field goal with just over a minute to play to make it a 10-point game.

Boley had a long ball to Hardley Gilmore that got the ball back into scoring territory. Stoops elected to kick a late field goal, giving us a final score of 30-23.

Kentucky vs. Ole Miss Box Score

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