The Kentucky Wildcats bounced back in a major way with a 48-23 win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles this past Saturday night. The offense showed signs of life and hope as Cutter Boley took charge and started at QB for the first time this season.
The Wildcats got off to a fast start as they came up with an interception just seconds into the game, then promptly scored a touchdown and never looked back.
It was not only a big night for Seth McGowan, who rushed for 104 yards and ran for 3 TDs, but it was also
a big night through the air as the Wildcats scored their first 2 TDs of the season in that fashion.
The Wildcats will head into the bye week 2-1 (0-1) before heading to Columbia in a couple of weeks to take on a South Carolina Gamecock squad that’s still trying to find its true identity. This will be Kentucky’s first road game of the season.
Who were the risers, and who were the fallers in the Cats’ win over the Eagles?
Risers
A Cutter Boley-led offense
What looked like a helpless offense the first two weeks of the season looked like a confident and revived offense Saturday night against Eastern Michigan with Cutter Boley at the helm. In his first start at QB this season, Boley went 12/21, 240 yards, and also gave the Wildcats their first two passing TDs of the season.
You could immediately tell how alive the offense was the whole night with Boley leading the offense compared to how it was the first two weeks of the season. The explosive plays through the air that were desperately missed in the first two games were also there the majority of the night, and that played a huge part in putting the offense in an easier position to score points when they needed to.
Although there are a few things that Boley needs to improve on as the Wildcats head into a gauntlet of an SEC schedule just about the rest of the way, I can’t think of any logical reason why he shouldn’t be the Wildcats’ QB1 moving forward.
Seth McGowan
New Mexico State transfer RB Seth McGowan has been everything and then some for this Kentucky offense through three weeks into the 2025 campaign. He’s run for six TDs (2nd most rushing TDs in the nation and 1st in the SEC) with 275 yards total on the ground, which is 25th most nationally and 5th most in the SEC.
Saturday night was by far his best performance of the season without question as he rushed for 104 yards and scored three TDs on 18 carries. McGowan has been everything and then some for this struggling Kentucky offense so far, and his spectacular play will be very crucial in determining how successful the Wildcats can be for the rest of the season.
Josh Kattus/Willie Rodriguez
Most times rather than not, it’s usually your receivers that are the main focal points in the passing game, but in this case, senior TE Josh Kattus and sophomore TE Willie Rodriguez have been the most reliable options through the air in the first three games of the season. Both have been responsible for the only two Wildcat TDs through the air this season.
Josh Kattus is off to a tremendous start in his senior campaign as he leads the Wildcats in receiving with 112 yards through three games and is also averaging 14.0 yards per carry. He finished Saturday night’s game with 63 yards and a TD. He also made a spectacular catch from Cutter Boley that went for 34 yards.
Willie Rodriguez has also taken a major step forward in his sophomore campaign as he continues to be one of the main contributors to this Kentucky offense. He’s also been a threat downfield in some plays through the air. The TE’s remain to be one of the most consistent options from the offense, it would be even better if we got the receivers in the fold more often and Saturday night gave fans some hope in that area moving forward with the Cats heading into their bye week.
Jason Patterson
Freshman RB Jason Patterson showed early-season flashes last season before his unfortunate injury. Although he only appeared in 3 games a year ago, he finished with 111 yards on 20 carries in those three outings. We got a bigger glimpse of what he’s capable of doing this past Saturday against Eastern Michigan as he made his season debut in the wake of Dante Dowdell’s injury. Patterson went for 80 yards on 13 carries and, most importantly, he scored his first-ever TD as a Wildcat.
We don’t know the severity of Dowdell’s injury, but what we do know is that Patterson is more than capable of making a huge impact in his potential absence.
Fallers
Defense
In an area where the Wildcats have been tremendous at this season for the most part, Saturday night was a mediocre performance for the defense aside from the forced turnover at the beginning of the game.
Kentucky led 28-6 with a couple of minutes before halftime in Saturday’s game, and in a matter of minutes, the score was 28-16 going into the break. Eastern Michigan put up 461 total yards of offense on this UK defense, and even though the score at the end didn’t show it, the Eagles were indeed moving the ball quite comfortably throughout the game. Despite lapses on that side, the Wildcat defense was able to make key stops when they needed to remain comfortably ahead the whole night, so that deserves a lot more praise.
The defense has shown that they are able to get stops when needed more often than not, and that’s going to be very important to moving forward, but the defensive lapses here and there are likely to come back and bite the Wildcats in more instances than not with SEC competition coming up over the next month and a half.
Zach Calzada
Between Calzada’s poor play, his lingering shoulder injury, and the fact that Boley performed well vs. the Eagles, it all makes for a strong case that Boley should be QB1 going forward. You never want to see a guy lose his job due to injury, but Calzada failed to ignite this passing game against Toledo and Ole Miss before he got hurt.
We just may have seen the last of Calzada as a starter in Lexington, but it’s good to see he’s handling it like a pro and being a good teammate to Boley, who looks like the future of the Kentucky football program.
