You really couldn't make this stuff up.
One week after Kentucky went on the road and beat South Carolina 35-34 in overtime with a game-winning two-point conversion, the Wildcats returned to Kroger Field Saturday night and somehow did almost the exact same thing again.
Only this time it came against No. 10 LSU.
C.J. Baxter scored from one yard out in overtime to pull Kentucky within a point, and head coach Will Stein immediately decided he wasn't interested in playing for another overtime. Kentucky spread LSU across the field, quarterback Kenny Minchey kept the ball on a quarterback draw, and the middle opened up.
Minchey crossed the goal line.
Ballgame.
Kentucky 35. LSU 34. Absolute madness in Lexington.
The final score was dramatic enough, but what Kentucky accomplished offensively may have been just as impressive.
LSU entered the night allowing only 15.2 points and 220.6 total yards per game. Kentucky proceeded to put up 35 points and 401 yards against the Tigers.
It was Kentucky's second game this season with at least 400 yards of offense against an AP Top-10 opponent, something the Wildcats had not done twice in one season since 1997.
| Statistic | Kentucky | LSU |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yards | 401 | 410 |
| Rushing Yards | 155 | 94 |
| Passing Yards | 246 | 316 |
| First Downs | 19 | 26 |
| Third Down | 5-of-14 | 7-of-13 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 2 |
| Penalties | 2-20 | 7-50 |
| Points | 35 | 34 |
LSU actually finished with a slight 410-401 advantage in total offense and held a 26-19 edge in first downs. But Kentucky won two categories that often decide close football games: turnovers and penalties.
The Wildcats did not turn the football over once. LSU turned it over twice. Kentucky was penalized only twice for 20 yards compared with seven LSU penalties for 50 yards.
LSU opened the game with a long drive but Kentucky's defense stiffened near the goal line and forced the Tigers to settle for a field goal.
Then Kentucky ran its first offensive play.
C.J. Baxter exploded through the middle for 77 yards, taking the football all the way to the LSU three-yard line. On the very next snap, Baxter went around the right side for the touchdown.
Two offensive plays. Seven points.
Baxter finished the night with:
That 77-yard burst was the longest run by a Kentucky player against an AP Top-10 opponent in school history and the longest run Kentucky has ever produced against LSU.
Baxter has now scored a rushing touchdown in five of Kentucky's first six games.
Kentucky's offense wasn't the only unit producing explosive plays.
Early in the second quarter, Brock Coffman fielded an LSU punt at the Kentucky 45-yard line, escaped the first wave of coverage and took off down the right sideline.
Fifty-five yards later, he was in the end zone.
It was Coffman's first collegiate touchdown and Kentucky's first punt-return touchdown since 2021.
It also made Coffman the first Kentucky player to return a punt for a touchdown against an AP Top-10 opponent since Derek Abney did it against Florida in 2002.
Kenny Minchey's night wasn't about piling up gaudy touchdown passes.
It was about making the plays that Kentucky absolutely had to have.
Kentucky trailed 17-14 late in the first half when Minchey directed a huge 15-play, 75-yard drive. The Wildcats burned the final 6:11 off the clock and reached the LSU goal line with one play remaining.
Kentucky didn't settle for three.
Minchey powered across on fourth-and-goal from the one for the first rushing touchdown of his college career, giving Kentucky a 21-17 halftime lead.
Minchey has now attempted 178 passes this season with only one interception. Protecting the football has become one of the biggest reasons this Kentucky offense keeps putting itself in position to win close games.
LSU entered the game averaging more than 547 yards of offense per game. Kentucky held the Tigers to 410.
Even more impressive was what the Wildcats did against LSU's running game.
LSU rushed for only 94 net yards on 36 attempts — just 2.6 yards per carry.
Kentucky's defense also came up with two enormous takeaways.
On LSU's very first offensive play of the second half, Ty Bryant intercepted Sam Leavitt and returned it nine yards into LSU territory.
Then came perhaps the biggest defensive play of regulation.
With LSU protecting a 27-24 lead and trying to finish the game, Jamarrion “Chops” Harkless got to Leavitt and forced a fumble. Tavion Gadson recovered it at the LSU 13.
Kentucky did not score after the turnover, but the play prevented LSU from simply bleeding the clock away and kept the Wildcats alive.
Harkless finished with 1.5 sacks, while Bo Barnes led Kentucky with a career-high 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Grant Godfrey added 10 tackles, and Sam Greene recorded 1.5 sacks.
LSU took a 27-24 lead midway through the fourth quarter on one of the wildest plays of the night, when receiver Jackson Harris took a pitch from Leavitt and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Roman Mothershed.
Kentucky then had opportunities to tie the game, but Adam Zouagui missed field goals from 42 and 26 yards.
It looked like LSU might escape.
The Kentucky defense had other ideas.
It forced one final LSU punt, giving Minchey and the offense the ball at their own 19-yard line with just 1:37 remaining.
Minchey hit D.J. Miller for 16 yards. He found Ja'Kayden Ferguson for 15 more. Then Kenny Darby hauled in a 19-yard reception to move Kentucky to the LSU 23.
This time, Zouagui delivered.
His 33-yard field goal with 12 seconds remaining tied the game at 27 and sent Kentucky to overtime for the second consecutive week.
LSU struck first when Sam Leavitt scrambled 15 yards for a touchdown, putting Kentucky behind 34-27.
Kentucky's response nearly stalled. Facing third-and-eight from the LSU 23, Minchey dumped the football to Kenny Darby.
Darby did the rest.
The freshman fought through LSU defenders for a 22-yard gain, dragging the football all the way to the one-yard line.
Two plays later, Baxter punched it in.
Will Stein had a choice.
Kick the extra point and keep playing?
Nope.
Kentucky spread LSU out with five receivers. Minchey took the snap and ran straight up the middle.
GAME OVER.
KENTUCKY WINS.
Don't overlook what true freshman Kenny Darby did when the game was on the line.
Darby finished with four catches for 79 yards, including two enormous receptions during Kentucky's final two possessions.
His 19-yard reception helped set up the field goal that forced overtime.
Then his 22-yard catch-and-run in overtime turned a third-and-eight from the LSU 23 into first-and-goal from the one.
Darby's 79 receiving yards were the most by a Kentucky true freshman against a Top-10 opponent since Barion Brown had 145 against Georgia in 2022.
LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt finished 25-of-34 for 275 yards, one touchdown and one interception. LSU also got a 41-yard touchdown pass from receiver Jackson Harris, bringing the Tigers' team passing total to 316 yards.
Dilin Jones led LSU both rushing and receiving, finishing with 56 rushing yards on 16 carries and 84 receiving yards on seven catches.
LSU moved the chains and controlled stretches of the game, but Kentucky made the bigger plays in the biggest moments.
- Kentucky is 5-1, its best six-game start since 2023.
- The Wildcats are 3-1 in SEC play.
- Will Stein is the first Kentucky coach to start 5-1 in his first season since Alpha Brumage in 1913.
- Stein is the first UK coach ever to start 3-1 in SEC play during his first season.
- Kentucky has defeated two AP Top-10 teams this season: No. 9 Texas A&M and No. 10 LSU.
- It is only the fourth season in program history in which Kentucky has beaten two AP Top-10 teams.
- Kentucky has now played back-to-back overtime games for the first time in school history.
- Kentucky won both games 35-34 on a game-winning two-point conversion.
- Kentucky is now 2-0 all-time against LSU in overtime.
- Kentucky has won four straight games.
At some point, you have to stop calling these wins flukes.
Kentucky has now beaten Texas A&M, South Carolina and LSU during a four-game winning streak.
The Wildcats have won shootouts. They've won on the road. They've won in overtime. They've won after falling behind. They've won despite missed kicks. And now they've beaten a Top-10 LSU team that entered Kroger Field with one of the most productive offenses and stingiest defenses in the country.
Most importantly, this team appears completely comfortable when a game reaches the point where one snap determines whether you win or lose.
Two weeks in a row, Will Stein has looked at his offense and essentially said:
We're playing to win.
Twice, Kentucky has delivered.
The Wildcats are now 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC, with two Top-10 victories already on the résumé.
And after what has happened over the last two Saturdays, there's only one reasonable question left for Big Blue Nation:
Kentucky heads to Norman next Saturday, October 17, for its first road game at Oklahoma since 1980. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.