Late Heroics Save Kentucky's Season!

Kentucky comes back late to win!

Arkansas 20, Kentucky 21

Things were bleak for the Kentucky Wildcats season with ten minutes left in regulation. The Wildcats trailed Arkansas It continued to get worse as the Cats offense struggled to move the ball and were forced to punt on the ensuing drive. But it was what occurred with four minutes left and Kentucky’s back against the wall that defined this game, saved this team, and gave all of the Blue Grass faithful a reason for hope. 20-7 as the Razorback offense had just concluded a 20 play, 87 yard drive which lasted ten minutes and resulted in a field goal.

Through three quarters of play the Kentucky Wildcats struggled on both sides of the ball. The offense had a mere 250 yards and only 7 points to their score. With the offense lacking to get any type of momentum the defense too was struggling. Arkansas running back Michael Smith had the best day of his career. He amounted to 192 yards on 35 carries. The pounding of Smith opened tremendous passing lanes also, which Casey Dick took full advantage of as he hit 7 different receivers all game. Arkansas pure domination over the Cats was most prevalent in the time of possession battle. Arkansas held the ball for nearly forty minutes of the game.

But all the struggles, some how the Kentucky Wildcats were able to turn their season around. With the ball and four minutes left Mike Hartline engineered a quick strike drive which lasted two plays and ended with Randall Cobb in the end zone. The touchdown put the Cats down six, with a little more than three minutes left.

Kentucky’s special teams unit was able to pin the Razorbacks deep in their own territory and prevented the Razorbacks from moving the ball at all as their drive went three plays for negative five yards and a punt. Following the punt, the Wildcats 35 yards away from the go-ahead touchdown, but the only question mark was if the offense could finally capitalize and make a play to decide the game. Surprisingly enough, they did find a way and a play to win the game. Again on a two play scoring strike, quarterback Mike Hartline was able to hit Randall Cobb down the left sideline to take the lead and win the game.

“I am so filled with emotion right now….I am just all over the place and I don’t know what I want to do,” exclaimed Mike Hartline after the game. Hartline finished the game with 239 passing yard

and two touchdowns. He went onto say that, “For the past few

years, the motto over here has been we believe and that’s what we still need to do. The win was really big to put us in the position to get to the best bowl possible.”

The offense seemed to turn the corner late in the game as they made the plays they needed in the end of the game to win. With the win the Kentucky Wildcats are tied with Vanderbilt for 2^nd place in the SEC East and a HUGE game with the Florida Gators looming in

Gainesville.