SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 6, 2014
Kentucky 20, Ohio 3: Patrick Towles passed for 170 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 59 more yards as the host Wildcats matched their 2013 win total with their second straight victory.
Ryan Timmons posted career highs with 10 catches and 95 yards and freshman Stanley "Boom" Williams rushed for a game-high 60 yards and a touchdown for Kentucky (2-0). The Wildcats, who finished with a 402-223 edge in total yards, will try and snap a 16-game SEC losing streak next Saturday at Florida.
JD Spraque, who replaced starter Derrius Vick at quarterback midway through the second quarter after Ohio (1-1) picked up just one first down while punting on its first four possessions, completed 13-of-25 passes for 143 yards. Brendan Cope led the Bobcats with four catches for 57 yards and Daz'mond Patterson finished with a team-high 44 yards rushing on 14 carries.
Kentucky, coming off a 59-14 win over Tennessee-Martin in which it averaged a school-record 10.8 yards per play, scored two touchdowns in the first 6:36 en route to a 14-0 lead. Towles hit Dorian Baker with a 8-yard touchdown pass to cap a 10-play, 75-yard drive to open the game and Williams followed with a 53-yard touchdown to complete an 80-yard, eight-play series.
Redshirt freshman Austin MacGinnis made it 17-0 when he nailed a school-record 53-yarder just before halftime. After Josiah Yazdani, who missed a 42-yard field to end the half, put Ohio on the scoreboard with a 44-yarder early in the third quarter, MacGinnis hit a 33-yarder midway through the third quarter to conclude the scoring.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Kentucky shut out an opponent in the first half for the second straight week, the first time since 1988 the Wildcats have accomplished that feat. ... Junior RB Braylon Heard, who had touchdown runs of 73 and 43 yards in Kentucky's opening win against Tennessee-Martin, didn't dress because of an ankle injury. ... Ohio finished with five sacks including two by LB Quentin Poling, who had 10 tackles.