Kentucky blasts Louisville: 6 things to know and postgame banter

The Kentucky Wildcats blasted the Louisville Cardinals Saturday afternoon by a score of 45-13.

That was a bludgeoning. I mean, I don’t even know what else to say. It was such a dominant performance by UK, and especially Lynn Bowden. What a game and what a win!

That will conclude an awesome regular season for the Cats. Next up, we’ll wait to hear where UK is headed for their bowl game.

But for now, let’s relish in victory!

It was a downpour

For the 100th time this season, Kentucky played in a downpour. The stadium was nowhere near capacity, but the playing conditions favored UK’s style.

It’s crazy how many times it’s rained this year, of all years, when it benefits Kentucky so much. It’s miserable for the fans, and probably for the players as well, but for the team as a whole, it’s perfect.

That continued to prove true on Saturday as Kentucky dominated the dirty birds.

Lynn Bowden is unbelievable

I know that everyone already knows this, but, man, that kid is amazing.

Lynn Bowden does everything for the Cats, including running, throwing, and blocking downfield. When Kavosiey Smoke broke off a career-long 70-yard run, Bowden beat him downfield and was blocking to try and help him score.

This kid has left his heart out on the field for the BBN. And even though he’s not a senior, this was probably his last game at Kroger field.

Playing quarterback might have hurt his draft stock with limited time at the wide receiver position, but he didn’t care. He has literally put this team on his back and become an absolute legend.

On Saturday, he became the only player in the SEC this season to have TWO 200-yard rushing games, as well as the most rushing yards in a single game this season by any player in the SEC. Further, he’s only the second guy in UK history to have two 200-yard games.

He will go down as one of the greats to ever play at Kentucky. It’s amazing we’ve seen three of the top-10 best players in UK history over the last two seasons.

Bowden will be sorely missed next season, but we couldn’t have asked for anything more.

So is Max Duffy

Unfortunately, Kentucky’s streak of not punting against the Cards ended Saturday. It had been two years since the Cats’ last punt against their rival.

But that meant UL didn’t get to meet Max Duffy last season. Well, they got to meet the nation’s best punter on Saturday.

The kid leads the nation in punting and he’s awesome to watch. His rugby-style punting is so unique and he knows how to read the defense perfectly. He did have one play where he might have been able to run for a first down, but he made a split-second decision to punt it.

Outside of that, there are no flaws in this man’s game. He’s one of the most fun players on Kentucky and he’s the punter.

Ya gotta love it.

Big plays hurt the Cats

Kentucky was seemingly dominating the game throughout the entire first half, but big plays kept the Cards in it.

Louisville scored on a big, 33-yard touchdown pass from Micale Cunningham to TuTu Atwell on 4th and 10, on the Cards’ first drive of the game. And later on, Stoops made a bonehead decision to go for it on 4th and one from midfield with 35 seconds to play in the half.

The Cats were leading 17-6 at the time and were getting the ball to start the second half but were stuffed on 4th down. That mistake led to Louisville’s Javian Hawkins taking the ball 56 yards to the house to make it a ball game going into the break.

It proved all for naught, but this could have gotten even uglier.

The defensive line is unreal

Kentucky’s defensive line has been phenomenal all season long, and that didn’t change today. Jordan Wright, TJ Carter, Quinton Bohanna, Calvin Taylor, Jr., and Boogie Watson have been staples for the Cats.

Today, this unit was dominant on every opportunity they had. Watson and Taylor are the two that really stand out, but Bohanna has NFL talent and Wright is a freak of nature that will continue to get better.

If the linebacking corps and safeties did just a little bit better in run defense, then the Cats would be unstoppable. But regardless, it’s a dominant unit and a stellar defense that will only get better heading into 2020.

One of the most lethal rushing attacks in recent memory

The Kentucky offense had two 1000-yard rushers in 2016 to go along with another 500-yard rusher. That team loved running the ball.

However, this team is even better. Of course, it helps to have Bowden playing QB, but he’s only been at the position for seven games. The fact that the Cats outrushed that team is unbelievable.

They’ve averaged over 300 yards per game on the ground since Bowden took over. And that’s with virtually no passing offense whatsoever.

Moreover, the Cats set the school rushing record in back-to-back weeks. This time, they went for over 500(!!!) yards.

This year went a lot different than most expected with Terry Wilson going down early, but the job Mark Stoops and Eddie Gran have done is nothing short of spectacular. Those two will have jobs in Lexington for as long they like.

What a game. What a turnaround this season has been.

It doesn’t get sweeter than that.

Go Cats!