The Kentucky Wildcats start the 2025 season 1-0 after taking down preseason MAC favorite Toledo in Week 1.
It wasn’t the cleanest victory, but the Wildcats leaned on their run game and defense to propel them to a 24-16 victory over the Rockets, a win this program desperately needed after how the last year has gone for the program.
The Wildcats led the entire game, and that was largely because of how successful the defense and the running game were all Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats are not only going
to need their running game and defense to show up the exact same way, but most importantly, the passing game must improve and have a better showing this week with the Ole Miss Rebels coming to town this upcoming weekend.
Here is what to like about the Cats from Game 1 and what needs to improve going forward:
What To Like
Alex Afari and the Kentucky Defense
The defense not only held Toledo to 59 total rushing yards, but they also came up with two important stops on 4th and short Saturday afternoon.
Senior DB JQ Hardaway was one of the standouts on defense as he came away with an early first-quarter interception. Sophomore standout Steven Soles Jr. also had an impressive afternoon as he came away with two sacks and brought the pressure to the Rockets QB for the majority of the game.
Lastly, the main contributor to the Wildcats’ defense was senior LB Alex Afari Jr. He had a total of 13 tackles (team high) that included a sack and two TFL. With the departure of a lot of guys at the linebacker position from a year ago, it seems that the upperclassman is here to leave a huge mark and lead this Kentucky defense in his senior campaign.
If the Kentucky defense can continue to pressure the other team’s offense like they did for the majority of Saturday afternoon, they’re going to find themselves in a lot of games moving forward.
Running Game
The Wildcats had an impressive afternoon on the ground as they rushed for a total of 221 yards. Transfer QB Zach Calzada got the Cats on board early in the first quarter with a one-yard TD.
Transfer RB Seth McGowan was very impressive in his Kentucky debut as he rushed for 78 yards on 18 carries that included an early fourth quarter TD that put the Wildcats up two scores over Toledo.
Nebraska transfer RB had the most impressive afternoon out of everyone on the ground as he rushed for 129 yards on 14 carries that included a 79-yard TD in the middle of the 4th quarter that also put the Cats up two scores.
The running game will play a huge part in determining the Wildcats’ success going forward throughout the rest of the season.
Offensive Line
What was kind of overlooked in Saturday’s game was the performance from the offensive line. That was probably mainly because of how stagnant the passing game was for the majority of the afternoon, but the O-line kept the Toledo defense on their heels as they prevented them from recording a single sack the entire game.
For that, I think they deserve a ton of credit for not only protecting their QB despite a disappointing outing from the passing game, but also opening up gaps for the run game.
What to improve
Passing Game
As mentioned earlier, the run game was not a problem for the Wildcats in Saturday’s outing. The problem was the passing game throughout the afternoon.
What looked like what would be a successful afternoon through the air after the first couple of drives, Zach Calzada threw an early interception, which was followed by a safety after a miscommunication early in the 2nd, and shortly after a fumble from TE Willie Rodriguez in Toledo territory.
The Wildcats came away with just 85 total yards in that department the entire afternoon. The WRs were mostly a non-factor, but tight ends Josh Kattus and Willie Rodriguez played a huge part in the little success the passing game had against Toledo, though Rodriguez had a crucial fumble that could have swung momentum in favor of the Rockets.
The passing game is going to have to be better moving forward as SEC play arrives this weekend.
