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Recap and Takeaways from Kentucky’s 45-28 Win Over Vanderbilt

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Kentucky running back Ray Davis running against Vanderbilt.
UK Athletics/Elliott Hess

The Kentucky Wildcats open conference play with a win, as they defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 45-28 in Nashville on Saturday. In previous games, Kentucky was sluggish out of the gate, but they would pick things up as the game progressed.

Today, however, the complete opposite was true. Kentucky would lead 21-0 after the first quarter, but it was back and forth between the two teams the rest of the way. Here’s a quick rundown of how the Cats advanced to 4-0:

Brad White’s unit set the tone on defense early in the game. Vanderbilt punted after going three-and-out on the first series of the game. Devin Leary would get things going with a 14 yard completion to Dane Key, which set up a 36 yard touchdown run from JuTahn McClain. On Vandy’s next drive, Maxwell Hairston would get a pick six to make the score 14-0 early. Then, Devin Leary found Barion Brown for 55 yards, which put Ray Davis in position to score an easy touchdown. The Cats were up three possessions after fifteen minutes of play.

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The 2nd quarter opened up with a 22 yard scramble from Devin Leary, and from there, Alex Raynor sunk a 27 yard chip shot field goal to make it 24-0. Vanderbilt would match Kentucky’s effort, however, as they finally got on the board with a 41 yard field goal of their own. Then, after a facemask penalty on Maxwell Hairston in coverage, Sedrick Alexander made the score 24-10 heading into the half with a rushing touchdown.

Despite getting the ball on the 35 yard line after the second half kickoff sailed out of bounds, Kentucky couldn’t do anything with the good field position, as the offense would go three-and-out. When UK got the ball back, they immediately gave it away via Devin Leary’s 2nd interception of the day, and Vandy would get a field goal out of that. D’Eryk Jackson would follow with an interception of his own, and Ray Davis then scored his 2nd touchdown of the game. The score was 31-13 after three.

Ray Davis would exit the game early after being shaken up following a 38 yard run. Soon after, Leary found Dane Key for a 22 yard pass to give Kentucky a 25 point lead. Vanderbilt then worked their way to a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to make it 38-21 with eight minutes to go. Then, Maxwell Hairston recorded his second pick six of the day to seal the game. Vanderbilt would score a touchdown as regulation came to a close, but ultimately, Kentucky won 45-28.

Maxwell Hairston Has a Historic Performance

Despite some questionable penalties called against him, Maxwell Hairston shined bright in Saturday’s game. He had his fair share of big plays and pass break ups, but the main reasons for his big game were his two pick-six’s. Hairston became the first Kentucky Wildcat to ever accomplish such a feat.

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O-Line Getting Better, But Still Has Room to Grow

While there were some costly holding penalties called against multiple guys for the Big Blue Wall, they played much better today. Eli Cox and Jager Burton swapped positions, and Josh Kattus was out today with an injury. Despite the change up front, there were much fewer miscues and mistakes made on the line of scrimmage.

Ray Davis Shines in Homecoming Game

Ray Davis rushed 17 times for 78 yards and two touchdowns against his former team on Saturday. Despite leaving the game early due to being shaken up following his explosive 38 yard run, Davis was able to do what he does best: dominate in Nashville, whether it be for Vandy or for Kentucky.


After advancing to 4-0 (1-0 in SEC play), the Kentucky Wildcats will take on the Florida Gators at Kroger Field on September 30th. This will likely be Kentucky’s first ranked opponent of the season. View the box score from Kentucky’s 45-28 win against Vanderbilt here.

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Jamon Dumas-Johnson: A NFL Draft Steal

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Kentucky Wildcats linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson (2) makes the sign of the cross while taking a knee before the game.
Carter Skaggs | Imagn

Before he transferred to Kentucky, Jamon Dumas-Johnson was an All-American at Georgia, with waves to at least test the NFL draft after winning a National Championship. However, with the decision to play his last collegiate season as a Wildcat, Dumas-Johnson was a cornerstone piece for the Kentucky defense, finishing the season with 7.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks during his 11 starts for the team. 

His athleticism spoke volumes at Kentucky football’s NFL pro day, where current NFL draft boards now list the linebacker as one of the best athletes at the position and has earned himself a “top 10” feel ahead of the draft. Before pro day, publications such as Bleacher Report had him listed as No. 13 at his position. 

Dumas-Johnson proved himself with the highest vertical jump (37.5) and the longest broad jump (10.60) out of the Wildcats who competed in said events, and ran an impressive best 4.50 40-yard dash. At 245 pounds, he also managed to press 16 reps of 225, which could technically be “better” compared to NFL standards, but is impressive nonetheless in hindsight.

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At 23 years old, this linebacker exploits explosiveness, agility and can hawk down any playmaker on the field. Out the 31 NFL teams that attended the event (a Cleveland Browns representative did not attend), one will be getting a prize steal of the draft with Dumas-Johnson. 

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Alex Raynor: A Rare Gem In This Year’s NFL Draft

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Kentucky Wildcats place kicker Alex Raynor (16) lines up a kick.
Jordan Prather | Imagn

Alex Raynor had an illustrious season for Kentucky last year, being named to First-Team All-SEC, as a finalist for the Lou Groza award and as SEC Special Teams Player of the Year.

As the record holder for the longest field goal in program history, and arguably one of, if not the, most consistent kickers to ever be a Wildcat, Raynor now looks to the NFL Draft in the next chapter of his book. 

Recently, at Kentucky football’s NFL Pro Day on Tuesday, March 11, Raynor kicked off the event with his workout. 

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Although he would miss a routine kick for him inside of the 45, he would continue to move back, nailing a 55-yard kick and nearly making a 60-yard kick. 

The best moments of his workout came when Raynor would line up behind the UK logo inside of Nutter Field House and would nail a 65-yard field goal.

That, although it’s an indoor kick and is not faced with the NFL pressure, would be one of the longest field goals in NFL history. 

Historically, it’s extremely rare for kickers to be drafted any higher than the 6th, more commonly going in the late rounds on the third day. 

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However, Raynor would hold as one of the rare occasions to go higher than projected, due to his historic year as a Wildcat.

Wherever the young man from Georgia ends up in the pros, don’t be surprised if you hear his name every reoccurring Sunday.

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The State of Kentucky Football

Following their worst season in nearly a decade, Kentucky Football faces a steep rebuild and rising expectations.

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Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops has been linked to the Texas A&M job.
Chet White | UK Athletics

After charting a 4-8 record in the 2023-24 season, including a 1-7, second-to-last finish in the SEC, Kentucky Football looks lost for the first time in a long time.

It can be argued that the program never really broke through to the “higher echelon” of college football in the first place, but even then, they’ve been consistently better than they were historically known to be. Until now.

With that aforementioned .333 record, the Cats weren’t able to earn a bowl game. That marks the first time since the 2015 season that Kentucky Football won’t appear in postseason competition, and, excluding the 2020 season (for COVID-related reasons,) it’s also the only time the Wildcats have finished under .500 since then.

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What about the last time the team had less than five wins? 2013, in Stoops’ first season. The deeper you dig, the worse it appears.

Losing to Louisville in blowout fashion at the end of last month felt like the straw that broke the Cats’ back. It was clear that whatever would happen next wouldn’t be simply transitional, and thus far, the early offseason has evidenced that.

The Big Move

It began with an exodus. Star wideout Barion Brown elected to transfer to LSU for his senior season. His receiver running mate, Dane Key, left for Nebraska. In addition to the team’s two primary deep threats, Chip Trayanum, the promising back and former Buckeye who spent much of this year battling injuries, took his talents to Toledo.

In total, the Cats have lost nearly two dozen players to the transfer portal, and that’s not even counting the guys headed to the NFL draft (like Deone Walker and Maxwell Hairston,) as well as the graduates.

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To put it bluntly, next year’s team will share little more with the players from this past season than the blue and white on their jerseys. It’s a brutal overhaul, though one Coach Stoops and his staff are trying to get the jump on, to their credit.

Fresh Faces

Among a growing list of incoming transfers, a few names in particular stand out. Chief among them is Zach Calzada, a quarterback whose upcoming season at Kentucky will mark his fifth year playing football in his third different jersey.

The journeyman spent this past season at Incarnate Word, where he threw for 35 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. He completed 344 passes on the year, almost doubling that of his previous two. 

Before his two-year stint at IW, Calzada spent the beginnings of his college career at Texas A&M where, among a mixture of steadily improving statistics, he led the Aggies to an impressive home win over the still Saban-led Alabama Crimson Tide. Whether or not his recent success in the Southland Conference will translate back to the SEC is yet to be seen, but, at least on paper, this pickup makes sense for Kentucky following a year of unsparing QB play across the board.

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Along with Calzada, the Cats have hauled in J.J. Hester, a 6 ‘4 senior receiver from Oklahoma, Dante Dowdell, a power back coming off a 12-touchdown season for Nebraska, and Sam Greene, a defensive end transferring in from USC, among a handful of others. We’ll have a team. 

Though, even considering the roster turnover, that wasn’t the question. That still remains, “what will that team do?”

Potential vs. Progress

Kentucky is 18-25 in their last three seasons of football; a steady decline that has been made worse by the fact that the program’s outlier 10-3 finish in the 2021 season has since been disqualified by the NCAA due to a rule violation. All in all, the last half-decade has been, at best, barely getting by.

How long will this trend continue? The only thing we know for sure is that nobody is sure. Answering that question requires the analysis and knowing of many moving parts, not all of which are at widespread disposal.

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But this much is clear: the longtime variable nature of Kentucky Football came to a head this year, and the product we’re about to see is going to have to be radically different from the one we’ve just seen in order to right this ship.

For better or worse, the 2024-25 season will likely go down as the most important yet in the Stoops era at UK.

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