Baxter, Patterson and Barnes rush for 100 yards, Kentucky rolls over South Alabama 45-21

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- CJ Baxter, Jason Patterson and Jovantae Barnes combined for 386 rushing yards and five touchdowns to power Kentucky to a 45-21 win over South Alabama on Saturday.

Baxter ran for 149 yards and the opening touchdown of the game. Patterson added 137 yards and three touchdowns, the first tying a 75-yard burst to tie the game at 21, and Jovantae Barnes had 100 yards and a score that tied the game at 14.

It is the first time Kentucky (3-1) had three 100-yard rushers in a game since 2020.

“We had three backs over 100 yards, which is very positive. It was good to see Jovantae out there, getting his feet wet and then find the end zone after a long time not being in there. And Jason Patterson just continues to get better and CJ is just healthy,” Kentucky coach Will Stein said. “We like to rotate those guys. It’s a very violent position and it’s great to have guys who can go out there and run.”

Jared Hollins threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for South Alabama (2-2) in place of Bishop Davenport who has missed the last two games with an unspecified injury. His 36-yard toss to Anthony Eager put the Jaguars up 14-7 and Jeremiah Jones-Thomas, who had 6 catches for 91 yards, had a 19-yard scoring catch for a 21-14 lead.

Patterson's long TD on Kentucky's next snap tied the game 1:22 before halftime and then Grant Godrey intercepted Jared Hollins on the next Jaguar snap. Adam Zouagui kicked a 34-yard field goal at 16 seconds for a 24-21 lead.

Patterson had touchdown runs of 15- and 2-yards in the second half before Kenny Minchey threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Shane Car to close out the scoring.

Stein said the Wildcats have a lot to clean up heading into the meat of Southeastern Conference play.

“If you think for one second that is the way to play football here in Kentucky, then it’s going to be a long season ahead,” he said. “So the message will get sent to the guys loud and clear. If you do not show up on any given Saturday, you will get beat.”

Baxter said Stein's message was clear at halftime to move on to the second half.

“He does a great job of getting us all on the same page at halftime. It was like the first half is behind us. Let’s go out back out there, and this is about how we finish,” he said.

The Takeaway

South Alabama: The Jaguars came into the game second in the country in time of possession at 36:46 per game and converting more than 50% of their third down attempts. That script flipped Saturday as they only had the ball 28:19 and went 4 of 15 on third down.

Kentucky: The Wildcats clearly had a hangover from last week’s 31-21 upset over then-No. 9 Texas A&M. Kentucky turned the ball over on downs twice, had a muffed punt, and linebacker Elijah ‘Bo’ Barnes was ejected for targeting on a hit on Hollins all in the first half.

Up Next

South Alabama: Home against Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday to open Sun Belt Conference play.

Kentucky: At South Carolina next Saturday.

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