Kentucky Wildcats Football wins at Ole Miss: Recap, 4 takeaways ...

The Kentucky Wildcats entered Saturday’s matchup against the No. 5 Ole Miss Rebels needing a signature win over a quality opponent.

After being dismantled by South Carolina and just missing a victory over the top-ranked program in America, the Big Blue Nation was craving a conference win. The task would be tall as Ole Miss had spanked every team put in front of it prior to today, and the Cats entered the game as 17-.5-point dogs while down star cornerback Maxwell Hairston.

The Rebels’ scoring margin through the first four games of the season was 220-22, the highest in SEC history to begin a year.

Their offense moves at a rapid pace and can run up the scoreboard before you even know what happened. With the pregame news of Kentucky defensive star Maxwell Hairston being ruled out, the challenge for UK grew tremendously.

But Mark Stoops’ team came ready to play and rose to the occasion.

Kentucky looked like the better team in the first half, taking a 10-7 lead into the locker room. Dane Key was the offensive catalyst, scoring his first touchdown of the season and the Cats’ first touchdown in conference play.

The second half was similar to the last time Kentucky traveled to Oxford. The game came down to the final minutes and a wild play. A fumble recovery in the end zone gave the Cats a 20-16 lead with 2:25 to go.

After a hard-fought last two minutes, a missed field goal helped UK prevail 20-17 in what was Mark Stoops's signature win.

That’s right. Your Kentucky Wildcats pulled off what’s easily among the best wins any college football team has this season, maybe even the best.

Here are four things to know from the monumental win!

Kentucky’s defense is one of the best in college football

If you didn’t already know — Brad White’s defense is legitimately one of the best units in America.

The Cats held Ole Miss to just 7 points and 129 total yards in the first half. They’ve now been the only team to throttle the Rebel offense in any capacity this season.

Holding Ole Miss to 17 points was beyond impressive, and the nation is now aware that Brad White’s group is for real.

Kentucky’s 20-17 upset was their highest-ranked road win since 1977 and will surely go down as a signature victory for Mark Stoops.

It’s time to give Brad White his roses after far too many people were calling for his job at the end of last season. It’s time for someone to give him a chance to be a head coach.

Dane Key with another breakout performance

Following up on a career-best game against Ohio, Dane Key showed why he’s one of the most lethal weapons in the SEC on Saturday against Ole Miss.

The local product would not only fill up the stat sheet but also impose his will by drawing pass-interference calls, some of which were missed.

Key would finish the game with eight grabs for 105 yards and a score.

Dane Key will play on Sundays soon and has the chance to be exceptional.

He’d finish the game with eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Controlling time of possession

Similar to the Georgia game, Kentucky aimed to control the time of possession, and they succeeded. Ole Miss only had the football for 8 minutes in the first half. Keeping the Rebels’ explosive offense off the field allowed the Cats to operate at their speed offensively and ultimately secure a lead after the first two quarters.

The second half was much of the same as UK had the ball in total nearly double that of Ole Miss. While the defense did the bulk of the work, the offense did a great job of sustaining drives and keeping the clock moving to limit the Rebels’ total possessions in this one.

It is HAPPY BYE week

The Cats will get a much-needed week off after their trip to Oxford. UK won’t take the field again until October 12th when Vandy comes to Kroger Field.

Taking on the Commodores at home should be a much easier task than playing an offensive juggernaut like the Ole Miss Rebels on the road.

Vanderbilt is 2-2 on the season and has a BYE this week. But after playing Alabama next Saturday afternoon, the Dores are very likely to be 2-3 before traveling to Lexington.

Securing a conference win is always a major plus, and there’s rarely a better opportunity than a home game against Vandy.

And with the upcoming games at Florida and vs. Auburn being very winnable, this team now has a chance to hit 8+ wins after it seemed just getting to six was a major uphill climb.

Now, we have hope for what this season will become!

Let’s celebrate!!

GO CATS!!!