Saturday wasn’t pretty, but the Kentucky Wildcats are officially back on track following a 21-17 win over the Missouri Tigers.

Kentucky had sloppy penalties, continued struggles with their field goal unit and gave up six sacks of quarterback Will Levis. However, thanks to a sound performance by Kentucky defense and three touchdown passes by Levis, the Wildcats managed to put together a winning effort on Saturday.

Kentucky was still banged up, more specifically on defense in the middle of their linebacker group. Veterans De’Andre Square and Jacquez Jones were out, which led to the Wildcats asking two young backups to answer the call on the road.

Wide receiver Dane Key had struggled mightily since his three-game scoring stretch to begin the season. It had been nearly two months (September 17th) since he had caught a touchdown pass. On Saturday, Key had two scores for his first multi-touchdown game of his young career.

Oh, and thank goodness for punter Colin Goodfellow. He’s not had the best season amid Kentucky’s painful special teams woes, but he may have made the play of the season when he recovered a high snap and drew a penalty that helped Kentucky ice the game.

Kentucky’s win improves their record to 6-3 as the Wildcats find themselves bowl-eligible for the seventh consecutive season. Next week, Kentucky will host Vanderbilt at Kroger Field in Lexington for another noon kickoff.

Game MVP

No question this goes to Colin Goodfellow, who drew the play of the game for Kentucky. The senior punter managed to recover a high snap that went over his head, gathered the ball, and kicked it away as a Missouri defender tackled him, drawing a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty.

Had Goodfellow not got the ball off, Missouri would have either scored or had the ball near the goal line. Goodfellow’s play kept the Tigers from scoring and also gave the offense a first down, allowing them to run more clock out.

In the process, Goodfellow was injured and had to be helped off the field.

Thank you, Colin Goodfellow, for saving Kentucky’s season.

While Goodfellow saved the day in the end, we have to give a shoutout to sophomore linebacker Trevin Wallace, stepped in for DeAndre Square on Saturday, which left major shoes to fill. Before kickoff, head coach Mark stoops said Wallace would play well in Square’s absence. He did just that, recording nine tackles (three for a loss) and a sack. His nine total tackles and three for a loss both led the team.

Box Score

Highlights

A Sea of Blue comes loaded with the best Kentucky Wildcats links, news, analysis, and some other fun stuff, so be sure to go ‘like’ our Facebook page and then go follow us on Twitter.