Central Michigan coach Dan Enos probably wishes he could have the 4th and 1 he went for in the third quarter back. Up to that point, UK’s offense was stagnant, and practically non-existent. But, after CMU failed on a 4th down and an inch to go from it’s own 34, Kentucky came out and promptly scored on a TD pass from Morgan Newton to La’Rod King. From that point on, there was no looking back, as UK scored 21 straight in the second half to beat a chippy CMU team (pun intended) by a score of 28-13. An inch hasn’t affected the state of Kentucky this much since Rick Pitino got the VIP treatment at Porcini’s a few years ago.
It was a tale of two halves, as the offense couldn’t do anything right in the first half, managing only 2 FGs. There was an interception, a missed field goal, and 2 woulda-been touchdown passes that didn’t connect. The team was lucky to only be down 7 at the half. CMU started out on fire, getting points on its first three possessions. But, after Danny Trevathan made an outstanding one-handed interception of Chippewa QB Ryan Radcliff, the CMU offense wouldn’t manage a single point the rest of the game after leading 13-3 in the second quarter.
The teams started out swapping field goals in the first quarter, and CMU also got a 24-yard TD pass from Radcliff to Jerry Harris for a 10-3 score. There was a field goal each in the second quarter, for a 13-6 CMU lead at halftime. UK had the ball in great position after the Trevathan pick, but Morgan Newton threw a pick of his own to kill the drive.
The second half didn’t start any better, as Raymond Sanders fumbled the opening kickoff, giving CMU the ball. But the defense held, as Enos made the call for the 4th down gamble. Although, giving how the UK offense was playing up to that point, they would’ve been much better off punting. But on the other hand, a road underdog with a fairly late lead doesn’t need to show fear at any point. Not sure what I would’ve done.
After the ensuing Kentucky score, CMU again punted, at which point Josh Clemons further endeared himself to UK fans by scoring on an 87(!) yard run, giving the Cats a 20-13 lead to end the third quarter. After some more offensive ineptitude from the Chippewas, UK managed a late score on a 4th and 1 of its own, as Newton ran in untouched on a naked bootleg to set the final score at 27-13.
CMU was putting together a good drive on its next possession, but Randall Burden intercepted the pass and ran it back 32 yards into Chippewa territory.
After struggling early, the defense adjusted well and shut the CMU offense down for the last 40 minutes. There were receiver drops and bad throws, as Matt Roark dropped a pass in the end zone in the first quarter. Late in the second, Newtown overthrew King wide open in the end zone, forcing him to come down out of bounds after jumping to make the catch. Although, after the fumble on the opening kickoff in the second half, the offense looked noticably better.
Newton finished 9-18 for 114 yards, with a TD and an INT. Clemons had 9 carries for 126 yards, although 87 of them came on one play. Raymond Sanders finished with 8-62. King had 5 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Tydlacka only had to punt 3 times, effectively ending any Heisman hopes he had.
