By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
Kentucky may want to reconsider scheduling Southern Mississippi in the future.
For the second straight season, the Golden Eagles gave the Wildcats all they could handle, but this time, Kentucky’s defense rose to the occasion in a 24-17 triumph Saturday in Hattiesburg. The victory was the school’s 600th victory on the gridiron.
The Wildcats (1-0) won their first road game to open the season since 2010 and avenged last year’s 44-35 setback to the Golden Eagles at Kroger Field. Southern Miss scored the last 34 points of the game to stun the Wildcats in the season-opener for both teams a year ago, but Kentucky avoided a repeat feat this time around.
The Wildcats recovered three fumbles, including a game-clinching scoop by senior Courtney Love with 8:44 remaining and Kentucky clinging to a 24-17 lead. Although Kentucky’s offense failed to capitalize on the opportunity, it seized Southern Mississippi’s momentum during the last six minutes. Love paced the defense with nine tackles, followed by Darius West with six. Ware and West forced two of the Golden Eagles’ three fumbles in the contest.
Southern Miss (0-1) never led, but pulled within 14-10 after scoring on its first series of the second half, but the Wildcats used a 41-yard field goal by Austin MacGinnis and a 20-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown by Denzil Ware in less than two minutes to push the margin to 24-10 going into the fourth quarter.
A bad snap, a fumble inside the red zone and a false start stalled Kentucky’s first three drives of the season, but a fumble recovery by Ware led to Stephen Johnson’s 8-yard touchdown run and have the offense the jump start it desperately needed.
Johnson completed seven passes for 135 yards in the first half, including a 23-yard touchdown strike to tight end C.J. Conrad. Conrad was on the receiving end of two passes for 82 yards and a touchdown in the opening half. Johnson threw for 176 yards and a touchdown, while Conrad caught three passes for 97 yards.
Kentucky standout running back Benny Snell managed just 26 yards on eight carries in the first half. Snell finished with 67 yards rushing on 20 carries.
Kentucky’s defense limited the Golden Eagles to just 129 total yards in the first two quarters. The Southern Miss offense, directed by former Kentucky offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson, managed just 42 rushing yards in the opening half.
Kicking it up: Kentucky punter Matt Panton had an impressive debut with the Wildcats, especially in the first half. Two of his punts landed inside the 20-yard line, both down at the 1-yard line. One of Panton’s kicks went for more than 50 yards. Panton is a graduate transfer from Columbia.
Slowing Ito: Southern Miss running back Ito Smith, who rushed for 1,506 yards and 17 touchdowns, managed just 37 yards against the Wildcats and was limited to just 20 yards on nine attempts during the first two quarters.
Backup plan: Southern Mississippi backup quarterback Kwandra Griggs completed 14-of-22 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. Griggs replaced Golden Eagles starter Keon Howard in the second half.
Gametracker: Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky, noon, Saturday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, 98.1 FM WBUL, Lexington.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at Keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.