Football ***** Postgame Notes: UofL 41, UK 14 *****

[Jeff Drummond]

KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES

LOUISVILLE AT KENTUCKY

C. M. NEWTON GROUNDS AT KROGER FIELD

NOV. 30, 2024



FINAL SCORE: Louisville 41, Kentucky 14



Team Records and Series Information

• Kentucky ends the season 4-8 and Louisville is 8-4.
• Kentucky remains the leader in the series, 20-16, ending a five-game win streak vs. UofL.
  • Louisville remains the leader in the series, 16-14, in the Governor’s Cup era.
  • Louisville is the leader in games played in Lexington, 11-10.

Team Notes

• Gavin Wimsatt’s 83-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Mori Maclin in the third quarter broke the Governor’s Cup record for longest pass.
  • The previous record was set by Dave Ragone’s 82-yard touchdown pass to Zek Parker of Louisville in 2001.
  • It is tied for the seventh-longest pass play in UK history and longest since Patrick Towles threw an 83-yard TD to Javess Blue in 2014 vs. ULM.
• Kentucky got one turnover on defense, continuing its streak of earning at least one turnover in each game this season for 16 takeaways in 2024.
• Kentucky’s loss ended a streak of 19 straight regular-season non-conference wins. UK’s last regular-season non-conference loss was seven years ago, in 2017 vs. Louisville.
• UK allowed 128 passing yards today. For the season UK held all 12 opponents under 300 yards and nine under 200. UK did not allow a touchdown pass today, first time that has happened vs. Louisville in a game played in Lexington since 2005.

Player Notes

• Kentucky honored 17 seniors in pregame ceremonies, including Beau Allen, Wilson Berry, Zion Childress, Trey Dennis, Jordan Dingle, Jamon Dumas-Johnson, Maxwell Hairston, Josaih Hayes, Gerald Mincey, Octavious Oxendine, Lucas Padgett, Alex Raynor, Paul Rodriguez, Tre’vonn Rybka, Jackson Schulz, Kristian Story and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.
• Making his first collegiate start, QB Cutter Boley completed six of his 15 passing attempts for 48 yards.
  • Boley was the first true freshman quarterback to start a game for UK since Destin Wade in the 2022 Music City Bowl.
  • Boley was the first true freshman quarterback to start against Louisville in the Governor’s Cup era.
• QB Gavin Wimsatt connected on four of his nine passing attempts for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
  • His two touchdowns passing marked the second time in his 33 career games that he has thrown at least two touchdowns passing in a game, and his first time since 2021. It is also the first time a UK reserve QB has thrown two TDs vs. Louisville.
  • His 83-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Mori Maclin in the fourth quarter was a career long.
  • All four of his scores passing this season, including two at Tennessee – one was a two-point conversion – and two today, were to Ja’Mori Maclin.
• RB Jamarion Wilcox rushed a team-high 12 times for a team-high 66 yards, the fourth consecutive game he has led the Wildcats in rushing.
• RB Demie Sumo-Kangbaye carried 11 times for 51 yards.
  • He eclipsed 1,000 career yards rushing today, with 1,030 career yards to conclude the season.
• WR Ja’Mori Maclin caught a team-high-tying three passes for a team-high 121 yards and a team-high two touchdowns.
  • His two touchdown catches marked the fourth time in his 43 career games that he caught at least two touchdown passes in a game, and his first time at UK.
  • He had a four-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter and a career-best, 83-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.
  • It is his third straight game with a TD reception.
  • His 121 receiving yards are the most for a UK receiver vs. Louisville since Garrett Johnson had 164 yards in 2016 at Louisville.
  • His 121 receiving yards are the most for a UK player vs. Louisville in a game played in Lexington.
  • Maclin is the third UK player with at least 120 receiving yards and two touchdowns vs. Louisville, also Craig Yeast in 1998 and Garrett Johnson in 2016.
• LB Alex Afari Jr. had a career-high-tying 10 tackles, including one tackle for loss (-1 yards).
• LB J.J. Weaver had six tackles, including a tackle for loss (-4 yards).
  • He has 39.5 tackles for loss, which is third all-time at UK.
• LB Jamon Dumas-Johnson had his third fumble recovery of the season.
• DB Maxwell Hairston made four tackles and a team-high three pass breakups. The three PBU tied his career high.
• K Alex Raynor did not attempt a field goal today and made both extra point attempts.
  • He finished the season making 15 of 16 field goals, and at 93.8 percent, broke his own school record for best field goal percentage in a season. He made 10 of 11, 90.9 percent, last year.
  • He concluded his UK career making 25 of 27 field goals, 92.6 percent, breaking the UK and SEC career records for percentage.
    • The previous UK record was 85.7 percent by Joe Mansour from 2010-13.
    • The previous SEC record (min. 25 attempts) was 89.5 percent, 34 of 38, by Evan McPherson of Florida.
  • He concluded his UK career 74 of 76 on extra points, totaling 149 points in his two seasons as a Wildcat.
  • He concluded his overall career, including three seasons at Georgia Southern:
    • Ranked second on the NCAA’s active career scoring list with 393 points
    • Ranked second on the NCAA’s active career PATs list with 183
    • Ranked third on the NCAA’s active career field goals list with 70

First Time Starters

QB Cutter Boley



Game Captains

DB Zion Childress, C Eli Cox, DB Maxwell Hairston, DL Deone Walker