Kentucky put the finishing touch on a 35-34 overtime victory over No. 10 LSU when quarterback Kenneth Minchey ran untouched for a 2-point conversion Saturday night in Lexington, Kentucky.
The decisive conversion followed CJ Baxter’s 1-yard touchdown run. Minchey recognized an opening in the middle and abandoned his expected role in the called play.
“There was nobody in the middle, so I figured I would run there,” Minchey said. “We had our play called, and I wasn’t necessarily part of it, but that’s what my read told me to, so I ran it in. It was great.”
LSU, which fell to 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the SEC, had the first possession of overtime. Quarterback Sam Leavitt ran 15 yards for a touchdown to give the Tigers the first score of the extra period.
Kentucky responded with Baxter’s short touchdown run before choosing to attempt the 2-point conversion. Minchey’s untouched run completed the Wildcats’ victory and moved Kentucky to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the SEC.
The Wildcats needed a field goal from Adam Zouagui to reach overtime. Zouagui connected from 33 yards with 12 seconds remaining in regulation to pull Kentucky even.
That kick came after Zouagui missed attempts from 42 and 26 yards with less than five minutes remaining. The second missed attempt followed a play in which Leavitt was sacked and fumbled.
Kentucky coach Will Stein said the result came after the Wildcats were counted out by those making picks on “College GameDay.” He described that lack of support as fuel for his team.
“I’m in shock. We’ve got a really good football team. People count us out. I took a picture of ‘College GameDay’ this morning; everyone picked LSU. Keep doing that. It gives us a lot of fuel,” Stein said. “It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t perfect. We just kept chopping. We kept fighting.”
Minchey completed 23-of-36 passes for 246 yards, with 206 of those yards coming in the second half. Baxter ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns, including 77 yards on Kentucky’s first play of the game.
Freshman wide receiver Kenneth Darby, who originally committed to LSU, caught four passes for 79 yards. His 22-yard reception in overtime moved the Wildcats to the LSU 1 and set up the winning sequence.
Kentucky played while missing three linebackers, two defensive backs and a defensive lineman. Stein praised the defense for producing plays and takeaways while dealing with those injuries.
“It’s just tough to stop those guys,” Stein said. “I mean, Sam Leavitt’s really good. They got big backs. They were throwing it all over the yard. This is not to discredit our defense; our defense made some unbelievable plays and takeaways and dealing with injuries.”
Leavitt finished 25-of-34 for 275 yards and two touchdowns. He also had an interception and the fumble that came before one of Kentucky’s late field goal attempts.
LSU wide receiver Jackson Harris threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Roman Mothershed with 9:42 left in regulation. The play gave the Tigers a 27-24 lead.
LSU coach Lane Kiffin said the defeat involved more than the final conversion attempt. He pointed to missed opportunities with the Tigers ahead and a failure to execute in all three phases.
“It came down to a one-play game, but there were a lot of plays before that to close the game out. We had the ball ahead and turned it over,” Kiffin said. “Disappointing all three phases. If you don’t execute, you don’t execute.”
Kiffin also cited Brock Coffman’s 55-yard touchdown on a punt return, saying LSU had a player in position to make the tackle but failed to complete it against Kentucky.