KSR Today: End of the bye week, Kentucky VB, and Sydney McLaughlin-LeVrone

by: Zack Geoghegan8 hours agoZGeogheganKSR

Photos of Josh Kattus (left), Eva Hudson (middle), and Sydney McLaughlin-LeVrone via KSR, UK Athletics, and Imagn Images

Good morning, folks! And a Happy Bye Week Sunday to everyone.

How did you spend your Kentucky football-less Saturday? By watching more football? I’m right there with you, although I wish we had a better slate of games than the blowouts that took place all over the country. There were some fun finishes in there, though — Ahmad Hardy carried Missouri past South Carolina, Michigan gave Nebraska its first L, and Oklahoma beat Auburn in a game that is being marred by a blatant missed call that the SEC’s league office had to address. The drama is very entertaining when it’s not your favorite team embroiled in the middle of it all.

But I digress. Kentucky will return to action next weekend for the first road game of the season. The Wildcats will head to Columbia to face the same South Carolina team that just allowed Hardy to rack up 138 yards and a touchdown. QB LaNorris Sellers sure didn’t look like he was feeling the hangover effects of any injury, either. He threw for 302 yards and a pair of touchdowns. But the note that everyone will be talking about from this game? Missouri collected 287 rushing yards for the game. South Carolina finished with -9 — yes, you are reading that correctly, that is a negative number.

A betting line for Kentucky-South Carolina will be released later today. After a 2-0 start that had the Gamecocks ranked 11th in the AP Poll, Shane Beamer’s team has dropped two straight conference games to Vanderbilt and Missouri. Sellers sat out most of the Vandy game due to injury, but his return against Mizzou didn’t result in a win. South Carolina will still be favored against the Wildcats, but this is a vulnerable team that will be ripe for a Kentucky upset. UK is relatively healthy coming off the bye, too.

We’ll spend the next seven days talking about the Gamecocks, so let’s shift gears and dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes.

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Kentucky VB closes non-conference play

And it was another sweep for Craig Skinner’s Wildcats against unranked Washington. It looked early on like Kentucky might be feeling the effects of Thursday’s massive win over rival Louisville, but the ladies locked in after a slow start to the first set. Kentucky went on to sweep the Huskies in Memorial Coliseum (25-23, 27-25, 25-21) as Eva Hudson broke a three-set program record for kills with 28.

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Kentucky finishes the non-conference with a 7-2 record, including a 3-2 mark against top 10 opponents. Currently ranked No. 6 in the latest AVCA poll, the ‘Cats will likely vault back into the top five. We won’t have to wait long before SEC play kicks off, either — Kentucky will host South Carolina (6-4) on Wednesday (7:00 p.m. ET | SEC Network+).

Put a bow on it🎁

Next stop: SEC.#WeAreUK x #BBN pic.twitter.com/t0ubqav4Vr
— Kentucky Volleyball (@KentuckyVB) September 21, 2025

[Kentucky VB Closes Non-Conference Play with Sweep Over Washington]

Another gold for Sydney McLaughlin-LeVrone

It was just a few days ago that Sydney McLaughlin-LeVrone, Kentucky’s former one-and-done star track athlete, became a world champion by recording the second-fastest time ever in the 400m flat. She clocked in at 47.78 seconds in the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo, becoming the first person to win world championships in both the 400m and 400m hurdles. On Sunday, she added another gold to her resume.

Serving as the anchor, McLaughlin-LeVrone and the United States women cruised to a victory in the 4x400m with a meet record of 3:16.61. Rain was once again a factor on the track, but that didn’t stop the Americans from beating out Jamaica by nearly three full seconds. McLaughlin-LeVrone ran a 47.82 during her split — the fastest split among all sprinters.

🇺🇸Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone splits 47.82 anchoring Team USA to a 3:16.61 4x400m championship record and world title win by almost three seconds! 👑pic.twitter.com/Rc289gYin6
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) September 21, 2025

‘Cats in the NFL: Week 3

TIME (ET)/TV	MATCHUP	FORMER ‘CATS
1:00 PM (FOX)	Falcons @ Panthers	Trevin Wallace (CAR)
1:00 PM (FOX)	Packers @ Browns	Jamon Dumas-Johnson (GB), Darian Kinnard (GB), Carrington Valentine (GB)
1:00 PM (CBS)	Colts @ Titans	Will Levis (TEN)
1:00 PM (CBS)	Bengals @ Vikings	N/A
1:00 PM (CBS)	Steelers @ Patriots	Brandin Echols (PIT)
1:00 PM (FOX)	Rams @ Eagles	Za’Darius Smith (PHI)
1:00 PM (FOX)	Jets @ Buccaneers	N/A
1:00 PM (FOX)	Raiders @ Commanders	Lonnie Johnson (LV), Chris Rodriguez Jr. (WAS)
1:00 PM (CBS)	Texans @ Jaguars	Brenden Bates (HOU), Eli Cox (HOU), Josh Hines-Allen
4:05 PM (CBS)	Broncos @ Chargers	Keidron Smith (DEN), Bud Dupree (LAC)
4:05 PM (CBS)	Saints @ Seahawks	Luke Fortner (NO), Landon Young (NO), Quinton Bohanna (SEA)
4:25 PM (FOX)	Cowboys @ Bears	Zion Childress (DAL)
4:25 PM (FOX)	Cardinals @ 49ers	N/A
8:20 PM (NBC)	Chiefs @ Giants	Mike Edwards (KC), Dru Phillips (NYG), Wan’Dale Robinson (NYG)