Kentucky blows golden opportunity in overtime loss to Texas

Kentucky football has been reeling. This is a program that desperately needs a big win. A golden opportunity presented itself on Saturday night 60,937 fans at Kroger Field. UK was the better team but that’s not what the scoreboard said.

Texas squeaks out of their first trip to Lexington in a 16-13 overtime win in game where they lost total yardage (395-179), first downs (26-8), non-sack rushing yards (161-71), and time of possession (39:23-20:37). Cutter Boley clearly outplayed Arch Manning, and Kentucky got off the mat to play after the bye week, but this is yet another loss.

The program has lost 11 consecutive power conference games at Kroger Field. The program has lost 10 consecutive games against power conference foes. The program has now scored two offensive touchdowns or less in 13 consecutive power conference games. The program has lost six consecutive home SEC night games.

Plenty of good happened on Saturday night, but the ugly trends for this program have not gone away.

Kentucky ruins a defensive gem

Texas is struggling on offense this season. The Longhorns have been one of worst units in the SEC, and entered Saturday ranked sub-50 in just about every meaningful offensive statistic. This team issues. Kentucky made sure those issues remained issues on Saturday night.

Texas might have had their worst offensive performance of the Steve Sarkisian era against Kentucky.

The Horns scored just one touchdown in 12 drives, produced only eight first downs in 53 non-kneel snaps, averaged only 2.8 yards per rush on non-sack carries, had a completion percentage under 50 percent, and allowed seven tackles for loss. This offense had no answers.

Texas finished the game just 5-of-16 on third down and only created one red zone possession. That came because of a long punt return in the second quarter.

The road team couldn’t do anything on offense. Defensive coordinator Brad White saw his unit pitch a gem but it wasn’t enough to win.

Kentucky does a lot of good but doesn’t finish drives

Ohio State is probably the best defense in college football. Texas is likely second. The Horns have pros all over the place with at least three All-American candidates this season. This was the best defense that UK will see this year.

Yet, UK consistently found ways to move the football.

Kentucky got off 86 snaps in 13 drives and created six scoring opportunities despite never starting a drive better than their own 44 until overtime. Cutter Boley did a lot of good (we’ll get to that later), and 12 different players recorded a reception. Seth McGowan battled through an injury and produced 113 yards from scrimmage on 21 touches. The offensive line had some leaky moments in pass protection but held their own against a very good front. Newcomers such as tailback Jason Patterson (24 yards from scrimmage) and wide receiver DJ Miller (two receptions) all looked like they belonged.

But at the end of the day, UK scored just 13 points in six scoring opportunities. That’s not going to beat many teams. The Wildcats also produced just seven points in three red zone possessions. That cannot happen.

Kentucky had a good plan, executed that plan, and consistently moved the football. But you have to finish drives. This has been a problem throughout the first 18 games under offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, and it reared its ugly head again tonight in a very winnable spot.

Cutter Boley continues his upward progression

Cutter Boley’s first two power conference starts were rough. The young quarterback had a bunch of turnovers against Louisville and South Carolina. That ultimately led to some blowout losses. Boley has used those moments as learning experiences. The former four-star prospect has made some big strides over the last two weeks.

Kentucky asked him to dropback 45 times against Georgia. Kentucky asked him to dropback 52 times against Texas. The redshirt freshman only turned the ball over twice in those games against very good defenses. Boley protected the rock and followed up a 61 completion percentage performance against Georgia with a 79.5 percent completion percentage performance against Texas. The Cats are still struggling to create explosive plays (6.6 yards per attempt), but Boley is carrying a heavy load, and has helped turn UK into a functional offense that isn’t getting a ton from the traditional run game (32 carries, 92 yards from the tailbacks against Texas). Boley is quickly turning into the Kentucky offense. He was good enough to create multiple scoring opportunities against a stellar defense.

.@cutterBoley RACING INTO THE ENDZONE.

📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/708zHMJ13q

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) October 19, 2025

The young quarterback helped lift the ground game by producing 69 yards on nine scrambles with the game-tying 16-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter on second-and-long in the high red zone. Kentucky’s young quarterback is playing good football.

Once a quarterback change was made, this year quickly turned into finding out what you have in your former ballyhooed recruit. You knew there could be some growing pains, but the second-year player is showing the ability to carry an offense against good SEC defenses. That is something this program has desperately been missing at quarterback.

Many things are trending in the wrong direction for this program, but they seem to have found a real answer at the sport’s most important position, and that will give them something to build from both now and in the future.

Let’s talk about the big picture philosophy

Throughout the week, I pointed out that there were a lot of similarities with this year’s Texas team and last year’s Georgia team. I also thought the spot on the schedule was very similar for Kentucky. There was a real chance this could turn into the slugfest if the Kentucky defense played to its potential.

That’s exactly what happened. Just like last year’s game against the Bulldogs, UK had Texas right where they wanted them. It was again a game where UK held the road favorite to just one offensive touchdown. The defense controlled the game. The offense just needed to score more than 13 points in regulation.

They couldn’t get it done — either time.

The defense pitched a shutout. Kentucky forced Texas to play their game. Kentucky drew Texas in a letdown spot in their third consecutive game away from home. Kentucky had the better quarterback. Kentucky won the down-to-down fight (UK 41.2% success rate, Texas 30.2% success rate). It still wasn’t good enough to win.

Texas is likely somewhere between the 6th-8th best team in the SEC this season. Kentucky got them at home in a great spot and the game went exactly how they would draw it up. The Cats looked like the better team for four quarters — and they still could not win the game.

Kentucky got the game they wanted and thoroughly outplayed the opponent. It was a game against a middle-of-the-pack SEC foe and it wasn’t good enough to win. If you can’t win that game, what game can you win?

Is this philosophy of protecting the defense, playing conservative offense, and shrinking the game currently broken? You can certainly make the argument.