Kentucky shuts down Southern Mississippi in lightening-shortened opener Saturday

By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today

The kickoff for Kentucky’s season opener took longer than expected Saturday night.

Because of inclement weather, the contest against Southern Mississippi was delayed by two hours and 20 minutes and didn’t begin until 10:05 p.m. Another weather-related stoppage occurred at the 9:56 mark of the third quarter with the Wildcats leading 31-0.

After a 40-minute delay, the game was officially called at 12:33 a.m. following a mutual agreement between the two programs and considered “final and complete.”

“That was a very strange situation there,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “I’ve been here 12 years and I’ve never been through the delays like that. … it’s a different situation.”

“It was different,” Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff said. “There were several times we’re getting up, putting our shoulder pads on, getting ready to walk out. Then had to go back two or three times.

“Finally, people just took off their shoulder pads and started laying on the ground and stuff. It’s just different, definitely, with mentally trying to get ready three different times but, at the end of the day, both teams had to do it.”

Behind Vandagriff, the Wildcats ushered in offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan’s offense and finished with 317 total yards in the shortened opener.

Vandagriff completed 12 passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns in his debut with the Wildcats. Vandagriff added 35 yards rushing on five carries.

“I thought (Brock) did a super job of just managing the game,” Stoops said. “… I thought he did an excellent job of making good decisions, pulling the ball down, scrambling for tough yards, buying time in the pocket to throw it, and, and then throwing it on time and in rhythm as well.”

Vandagriff threw for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the opening half, and his only miscue was an interception on Kentucky’s first drive of the year.

From that point on, Vandagriff was nearly flawless and directed the Wildcats to four scoring drives during the remainder of the half.

His longest completion of the opening half was a 35-yard strike to Dane Key that set up a 12-yard touchdown pass to Barion Brown. Brown caught two touchdown passes as five different receivers caught a pass from Vandagriff.

Vandagriff wasn’t the only transfer who enjoyed a successful debut with the Wildcats. Receiver Ja’Mori Maclin, a North Texas transfer, hauled in a pair of passes for 66 yards, including a 66-yard completion from Vandagriff that set up a 5-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Dingle.

The Wildcats rushed for 148 yards, led by senior Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, who ran for 59 yards on eight carries.

Kentucky’s defense played a big role in the first-half shutout and collected two interceptions and limited the Golden Eagles to just five yards rushing. The Wildcats collected a pair of sacks and six tackles for a loss.

“Defensively (we) played pretty solid,” Stoops said. “I was frustrated after giving up the second-and-long early in the game,” Stoops said. “But they did a heck of a job getting the turnovers, played a couple situations really good there. There’s a lot to build from. It’s a start.”

Gametracker : South Carolina at Kentucky, 3:30 p.m., Saturday.

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