Highlights, MVP and Twitter reactions from Wildcats’ win over Murray State

Kentucky is now two wins away from bowl eligibility.

The Kentucky Wildcats hosted Murray State on Saturday following their second bye week of the season and the final score was as expected with the Wildcats winning, 48-6.

Despite the blowout win, Mark Stoops and his team seemed flat all afternoon. Penalties, along with a lack of energy, made for a disappointing performance.

Quarterback Brock Vandagriff had a relatively up-and-down first half, tossing two touchdowns but also throwing an absolute duck that was easily picked off by the MSU defense.

The Wildcats did, however, close the first half with a scoring drive featuring a 19-yard touchdown connection between Vandagriff and Ja’Mori Maclin, taking a 24-0 lead into the locker room.

Kentucky began the second half with quarterback Cutter Boley. The Lexington native was the No. 38 quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class and has a strong chance to be the future for the Wildcats.

Boley completed 10-14 passes for 130 yards and threw two touchdown passes — both to Anthony Brown-Stephens.

Kentucky was once again without several players on Saturday, including Barion Brown on offense and Deone Walker on defense. While that could very well be part of the reason they didn’t have much of a “spark” on Saturday, it’s still no excuse, considering they had two weeks to prepare for their “cupcake” game of the season.

Stoops and his staff will hope and pray that Kentucky’s roster suddenly becomes much healthier when it heads to Austin, Texas, for a matchup with the No. 3 Longhorns next Saturday.

After today’s win, Kentucky kept its incredibly slim bowl hopes alive, as it now stands at 4-6. To keep its bowl streak alive, Kentucky will need to win its next two games (5.3% chance to win at Texas & 28.6% chance to win vs. Louisville).

Kickoff against Texas is scheduled for 3:30 PM ET with coverage on ABC.

Box Score

MVP

Is it possible for the opponent to be the MVP?

Kentucky’s game against Murray State could not have come at a better time. The layup in their schedule allowed the Wildcats to snap a four-game losing streak and avoid the stare-down with a potential seven-game losing streak (at No. 3 Texas and vs. No. 19 Louisville) to end the season.

In all seriousness, the MVP has to go to a banged-up Kentucky defense. They forced Murray into throwing three interceptions, which led to two touchdowns by the Wildcats. Between two quarterbacks, the Racers completed just 41% of their passes and were held to 1-12 on third down.

The entire team has been up and down all season, but the best unit has been, by far, the team’s combined effort and execution on defense.

Highlights

Kentucky vs. Murray State Twitter Reactions