Northern Illinois Huskies traveled to #8 Kentucky to face the Wildcats at Kroger Field
The Northern Illinois vs Kentucky football game was a clear victory for the Wildcats, but it certainly didn’t come easy. Following a huge win in Week 2 by the Wildcats over Florida, UK Football moved into the Top 10 of college football rankings. They continue their hot streak and came into the game ranked #8. Still, the Wildcats would be without one of their best veterans, running back Chris Rodriguez. He will return next week against Ole Miss, and after this game it certainly appears that he is needed to balance the offense.
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Game Final Score
TheNorthern Illinois Huskies vs University of Kentucky football final game score was 23-31. This brings the Cats to 4-0 on the season, and adds another win tohead coach Mark Stoops’ record as the winningest coach all-time for the University of Kentucky football program. He eclipsed the prior record held by Bear Bryant in week two, and is now 3 ahead for most wins.
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Recap
The Kentucky Wildcats returned to Kroger Field in Lexington, KY to continue their winning streak to open the college football season. Big Blue Nation would show up with 61,579 in attendance to watch the kickoff at 7:00pm ET. UK would still be without an anchor of their offense, veteran running back and second-leading rusher in the SEC last, Chris Rodriguez.
Nonetheless, Will Levis and the Wildcat offense were able to put up 31 points, their season average. The UK quarterback would have a career-tying night on touchdown passes, but would also take a lot of hits in the process. The line certainly needs to tighten up if they’re going to be successful against teams like Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Georgia to closeout the season.
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Nonetheless, one Wildcat who is getting off to a great start with his career at UK is Bluegrass native Dane Key! He’s off to a fantastic start to his college career, and he’s establishing himself as a staple to the offense this season. Key has now scored in each of his first three games as a Wildcat, and is quickly becoming one ofWill Levis’ favorite options.
Levis would go 18-26 on passing for a total of 303 yards which produced four touchdowns. Another key stat that was impressive for the Kentucky quarterback was the fact that he ended the game with zero interceptions. The run game would another 103 yards on the ground, with Kavosiey Smoke contributing 85 of those yards.
The Kentucky football team as a whole put up a total of 406 yards in offense. Tayvion Robinson led the group of wide receivers with 147 yards and 2 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Barion Brown added another 102 yards with 2 touchdowns. They peeled off a 69-yard and 70-yard play each for huge gains!
Box Score
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Highlights Video:
Full Game Highlights
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