Kentucky opens with a win: 44 to 14 over Ball State

Now it's football time, in the Bluegrass. Kentucky earned a 44-14 win over Ball State Saturday inside Kroger Field, to kick off the 11th year in the Mark Stoops era and the first under Liam Coen, 2.0.

Quarterback Devin Leary finished the day 18/31 in the air for 241 yards. Sophomore Dane Key finished week one as UK's leading receiver, with 5 catches for 96 yards. He was followed by Barion Brown, who racked up 39 yards of his own, and Tayvion Robinson, who earned 38 more.

On the ground, senior transfer Ray Davis paced the Cats with 112 yards off of 14 carries for two touchdowns. JuTahn McClain finished with 9 yards.

Kentucky's first play of the game saw Leary deliver a perfect ball into the hands of Key. The sophomore wide receiver turned the catch into a 44-yard opening play that brought Big Blue Nation to its feet. The Cats' opening drive only lasted three more plays, however, after back-to-back incomplete passes to Brown and tight end Jordan Dingle.

Senior kicker Alex Raynor, a transfer from Georgia Southern, sailed his first attempt through the uprights for a 51-yard field goal to put the Cats on the board first, 3-0.

They wouldn't have the lead for long. Ball State responded later in the quarter with a 13-play drive that took more than seven minutes off the game clock, ultimately resulting the touchdown that put the Cardinals ahead, 7-3.

The Cats responded with a touchdown drive of their own, featuring two receptions by Tayvion Robinson, a 27-yard pass to Key, and six separate rushes by Ray Davis. Following two incomplete throws at the goal line, Coen went back to the running back who'd kept the drive alive to begin with, and Davis rushed up the middle for a gain of two yards and his first touchdown as a Wildcat.

Raynor's kick was good, to swing the lead Kentucky's direction: 10-7.

Positive momentum continued to build from there. Trevin Wallace and Alex Afari executed perfect teamwork on a tackle, shaking the ball loose from Ball State tight end, Tanner Koziol.

Enter: Jalen Geiger.

Kentucky's senior safety pulled off a successful scoop-and-score in his first game back from the ACL injury that sidelined him for the majority of last season. Geiger took it 69 yards to the house to extend Kentucky's lead to 17-7.

Both teams committed mistakes on the following drives; Leary threw an interception on fourth-and-two, which was quickly annulled by Ball State's own turnover, forced by Maxwell Hairston. Jordan Lovett recovered the fumble and returned it for a touchdown, but the referees on the field had previously called the play dead, and the points came off the board. Instead, Kentucky took over where the fumble took place, on Ball State's 31 yard line.

The Cats eventually punched in a 46-yard field goal attempt, but that wasn't the most-impact moment of the drive. That came when starting left guard Kenneth Horsey was injured, assisted to the sideline, and carted off the field. He did not return.

Raynor punched in one final field goal before halftime - this time, a 46-yarder. Kentucky led 23-7 at the break.

The Cats put two more touchdowns on the board in the third quarter - first, a five-yard throw to Key in the end zone; second, a 99-yard kickoff return by Brown.

Davis gets the last say with a 30-yard touchdown through the middle in the fourth. With today's performance, Leary surpasses 7,000 yards. Kentucky wins 44-14.

Kentucky will be back in action next Saturday to take on the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the SEC Network+.

BBN Tonight

For more on today's game and the season ahead, watch BBN Tonight weeknights at 7:30 and BBN Gameday, Saturday mornings at 9 a.m., on the official station for Big Blue Nation, LEX 18 News.