Familiar Things Prevent The Upset
On Saturday night, the Kentucky football team returned to Kroger Field for the first time since September 13th. Their opponent, the Texas Longhorns, was making their first-ever trip to Lexington. The Cats were trying to break some long losing streaks. On the other side of the ball, the Longhorns were trying to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. Mark Stoops’ club had some chances to spring the upset. However, it was more of the same that kept it from happening. Let’s break it down as Texas Gets Past Kentucky 16-13 in overtime.
Missed Opportunities
Kentucky took the opening kickoff and moved right down the field on one of the nation’s best defenses. Cutter Boley led the Cats inside the 25-yard line. Unfortunately, things unraveled for UK. Boley broke open a run but slid too soon, ending up two yards from a first down. They couldn’t get two yards on two plays and turned it over on downs.
From there, the defenses took over, a Brad White’s group forced the Arch Manning-led offense to punts on their first three possessions. Kentucky couldn’t take advantage and punted three times as well. It was that third punt where the tables turned. Ryan Niblett took the Aidan Laros pass 45 yards down to the Kentucky five. Tre Wisner took it in from one yard out, and it was 7-0 Texas.
Same Old Situation
Boley was intercepted on Kentucky’s next drive, but again the Wildcat defense held. With less than two minutes left in the half, would this be the time the Cats weren’t stopped by the Kentucky Kryptonite? Much like the Georgia game, the UK signal caller led a great two-minute drive. Unfortunately, the drive stalled.
On a second and one from the Texas 29, Boley did the one thing you can’t do, take a sack, pushing them back to the 35. With 13 seconds left on the clock, Stoops sent Jacob Kauwe out for a 53-yard field goal. It was no good, and the Cats went into the break trailing 7-0. This came after outgaining Texas 180 to 93 and holding the ball for 19 minutes.
Back And Forth We Go
Kentucky held the ball for nearly nine minutes to start the second half. After a somewhat questionable decision to run it three straight times, Kauwe hit a 46-yard field goal, and it was 7-3. We said questionable because we said in our game preview, it’s really hard to run against Texas. However, that’s what Stoops and offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan feel comfortable with.
Texas answered right back with a 53-yard field goal from Mason Shipley, and the Longhorns were back up by seven. That set the stage for a fantastic finish. Boley led the Cats on a five-play, 56-yard drive and took it the last 16 himself, and we were tied at 10.
The defenses held again, and Kentucky had to punt. One thing you couldn’t do was let Niblett get a chance at a return. Guess what happened? Breaking a tackle, he took it 43 yards, setting up the Longhorns at the UK 42. Shipley’s 39-yarder put Texas up by three. However, the Cats caught a huge break when a Texas receiver ran out of bounds on a reception, stopping the clock and giving Kentucky almost a minute.
Happiness Then Heartbreak
These are the things you dream about as a quarterback, and Boley led his team to the tying score. Going 46 yards in less than a minute, he drove the Cats down to the Texas 27. Kauwe’s 45-yard field goal sent it to overtime.
Kentucky got the ball first, and when Boley found Kendrick Law for 22 yards and they were in business at the three. Unfortunately, the Cats couldn’t get it in after Dante Dowdell was stopped on third and fourth down. Again, you have to question running the ball up the middle when he hadn’t worked all night.
On the Longhorns’ drive, Shipley hit a 45-yard field goal on fourth and 12, and that was your game as Texas gets past Kentucky 16-13.
Looking Ahead
With the win, the Longhorns go to 5-2 on the year and 2-1 in the SEC. They’ll travel to Mississippi State next Saturday in the last of four straight games away from Austin. As for the Wildcats, they drop to 2-4 on the year and 0-4 in the SEC. It doesn’t get any easier next week as Tennessee comes to town.
Final Thoughts
This is another in what’s become the norm for Kentucky fans: do enough things to win but fall short. Boley was far and away the best quarterback on the field over the preseason Heisman candidate. For the game, he hit on 31 of 39 passes for 258 yards and one interception. In addition, he ran for 45 and a score. On the other hand, Manning was only 12-27 for 132 yards.
Tonight, it was special teams that did them in. The missed field goal before the half, when the Cats could have tried to get more yards, came back to bite them. Furthermore, Niblett’s punt returns changed the game.
Ryan Niblett Punt Return Yards: 88
Texas Rushing Yards: 43
Texas Passing Yards: 109— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) October 19, 2025
At the end of the day, it’s another SEC loss for the Cats. They’ve now lost nine straight since beating Ole Miss on September 28th of last year. Taking it a step further, they haven’t won a home SEC game since beating Florida on September 30th, 2023. That’s over two years.
Again, Kentucky had its chances but couldn’t get the job done as Texas gets past Kentucky 16-13 in overtime.
Main Image: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images
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