Let's take a look at it: Kentucky vs. Eastern Michigan

The Cutter Boley era may officially be underway. In his first start of 2025, the redshirt freshman looked comfortable guiding Kentucky‘s offense, spreading the ball around, and even proving that tight ends exist in Lexington, with touchdown throws to both Willie Rodriguez and Josh Kattus. Add in three rushing scores from Seth McGowan, and the Wildcats’ offense finally found some rhythm against winless Eastern Michigan.

The defense? Not as pretty. Eastern Michigan piled up nearly 300 yards and scored 16 points before halftime, including 10 unanswered points with under two minutes left in the second quarter. But after the break, the Wildcats tightened up and pulled away for a 48–23 win under the lights at Kroger Field.

Now that it’s over, let’s Bush Hamdan the game and take a look at it.

Key Stats

• Kentucky’s 1Q interceptions: After intercepting the first pass of the game for the second time already this year, Kentucky’s defense has four first-quarter interceptions in the first three games, two of which came on the first throw of the game.
• A tale of two halves: Eastern Michigan outgained Kentucky in the first half, racking up 290 yards in the first two quarters. However, the Wildcats made things much harder on the Eagles in the second, holding EMU to 171 yards and one score after intermission. Still, not a good day for Kentucky’s defense overall.
• Tight end catches: It’s clear that Boley grew up watching Kentucky because he went to the tight ends as soon as he got the opportunity. Kattus and Rodriguez were UK’s leading receivers, each with a touchdown and a combined 89 yards receiving in the win.
• 252 rushing yards: As a team, Kentucky averaged 5.5 yards per carry, led by McGowan’s first 100-yard game as a Wildcat.
• Red zone success: Kentucky went 7-for-7 on trips to the red zone, a significant improvement from the red zone struggles of a year ago.
• No turnovers: Make it two straight games for the Cats without a turnover.

Offensive MVP

Running back Seth McGowan is Kentucky’s offensive MVP for a second week in a row. The New Mexico State transfer rushed for three touchdowns against Eastern Michigan, extending his tally to six rushing touchdowns in the first three games of the season. It’s a record-setting pace, nearly a third of the way to Benny Snell’s 19 in 2017.

Defensive MVP

Kentucky safety Jordan Lovett takes MVP honors on that side of the ball for his team-high eight tackles, but defensive coordinator Brad White would likely prefer not to celebrate any of his players after Kentucky gave up 461 yards of offense to a winless team.

Other Top Performers

• PR Ty Bryant, Kentucky: Bryant returned two punts for 28 yards, highlighted by a 25-yard return that he nearly broke for much longer.
• K Jacob Kauwe, Kentucky: UK’s new kicker is still perfect. Tonight, he made a 51 and a 24-yarder, and all six of his XPs. Kauwe is 6-for-6 on FGs this season.
• RB Jason Patterson, Kentucky: Patterson helped put the game on ice with his first career rushing touchdown late in the fourth quarter. The redshirt freshman seized the opportunity when he moved from RB3 to RB2, rushing for 80 yards in place of Dante Dowdell.
• WR Kendrick Law, Kentucky: Law flashed his speed with 17 yards after catch on two receptions and one 16-yard rush. Law had a touchdown called back for holding.
• DL Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace, Kentucky: MHG had an impressive chase-down sack on EMU QB Noah Kim, plus two more hurries and half a tackle for loss. The entire defensive line played well.

Touchdown Counter

The teams combined for eight touchdowns in Week 3, scored mainly by the good guys.

• RB Seth McGowan, Kentucky: 4-yard rush (14:11 – 1Q) | Kentucky 7, EMU 0
• RB Seth McGowan, Kentucky: 12-yard rush (05:32 – 1Q) | Kentucky 14, EMU 0
• TE Willie Rodriguez, Kentucky: 3-yard catch (10:18 – 2Q) | Kentucky 21, EMU 3
• TE Josh Kattus, Kentucky: 4-yard catch (01:55 – 2Q) | Kentucky 28, EMU 6
• WR Terry Lockett, EMU: 64-yard catch (01:36 – 2Q) | Kentucky 28, EMU 13
• RB Seth McGowan, Kentucky: 8-yard rush (05:15 – 3Q) | Kentucky 38, EMU 16
• RB Jason Patterson, Kentucky: 6-yard rush (04:46 – 4Q) | Kentucky 48, EMU 16
• QB Noah Kim, EMU: 5-yard rush (00:58 – 4Q) | Kentucky 48, EMU 23

Play of the Game

The Play of the Game was the first play of the game: Daveren Rayner‘s tip-drill interception to set up Kentucky’s offense in an immediate scoring position. Don’t throw on UK’s defense in the first quarter!

Kentucky’s fourth 1Q interception in three games pic.twitter.com/ZwVAJmjlob

— KSR (@KSRonX) September 13, 2025

Not Play of the Game

For Big Blue Nation’s purposes, the Not Play of the Game was the 64-yard touchdown allowed at the end of the first half, part of another pre-halftime meltdown by your University of Kentucky Wildcats.

Honorable mention: Kentucky calling a timeout before Eastern Michigan’s extra point.

Momentum Swings/Key Moments

Interception on the first play of the game
The first play of the game was a big momentum swing. Kentucky’s defense deflected and picked off Noah Kim’s pass attempt, returned 25 yards to the EMU10 by Daveran Rayner. The offense capitalized in two snaps to take a 7-0 lead right away.

Yet another end-of-half disaster by the Cats
There were fewer than two minutes left in the first half when Eastern Michigan scored a touchdown, forced Kentucky into a punt, and then kicked a field goal for 10 straight points. The Mark Stoops special.

Eastern Michigan stuffed on a fake punt
Down by 15 in the third quarter, Eastern Michigan tried a fake punt on 4th-and-8 at its own 27. The desperate move was sniffed out by Kentucky and stuffed for no gain. Kentucky stretched its lead to 22 four plays later.

20 unanswered in the second half
Out of halftime, Kentucky stretched its lead to 32 with four unanswered scores: a field goal, a touchdown, a field goal, and a touchdown, putting the game out of reach.

Injury Report

Dante Dowdell – Mark Stoops said he thinks his power running back will be fine after leaving the game with a thigh injury.

Terhyon Nichols – Like Dowdell, Nichols, a cornerback, left the game with an injured thigh, but Stoops does not expect the injury to linger. Kentucky is thin at that position.

DJ Waller – Kentucky’s starting corner missed a second straight game. Waller needs to return in a hurry.

Mark Stoops’ Postgame Press Conference

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Official Attendance

58,489

Kroger Field Music Report

The stadium music has improved each of the last two weeks since the opener drew heavy criticism for the atmosphere and lack of “Grove St. Party.” Tonight, “Do The John Wall” was one of the more popular songs played during the game as several fans stood through unexpected rain to bring energy to Kentucky’s first night game of the season.

Celebrity Sightings

The new UK Athletics Hall of Fame class headlined the list of special guests. However, Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Hines-Allen did not hang around for Saturday’s game after Friday night’s H.O.F. ceremony. Abbey Cheek-Ramsey, Makayla Epps, Doug Flynn, and Sonia Hahn represented the 2025 class on C.M. Newton grounds.

UK Athletics Hall of Fame Class of '25 👏

Josh Hines-Allen and Karl-Anthony Towns couldn’t make it to tonight’s game, but we were grateful to have them with us at last night’s induction ceremony. pic.twitter.com/RRMN3KHEYZ

— Kentucky Athletics (@UKAthletics) September 14, 2025

Also, Mark Pope was spotted, along with Malachi Moreno and Arafan Diane, a four-star recruit visiting campus.

KSR’s Photo Gallery

(Images from Crawford Ifland)

What’s Next?

With the out-of-conference win, Kentucky sits at 2–1 on the young season, and a quarterback change already looks like the right move. Cutter Boley has the offense trending upward, but now the challenge gets real with the first SEC road trip coming up. The Wildcats head to Columbia next for a critical SEC matchup against South Carolina, seeking revenge for last year’s Week 2 game in Lexington.

The Gamecocks are reeling after getting drilled at home by Vanderbilt, and they may be without star quarterback LaNorris Sellers, who left tonight’s game with an injury. Still, Williams-Brice at night is never easy. If the Cats want to prove this rebuild has legs, grabbing a win over a wounded South Carolina squad is the next big step.

Go Cats.