The "Power K" might be here to stay following Kentucky's 35-34 upset in overtime over No. 10 LSU Saturday night.
The final margin was a repeat of last week's 35-34 overtime win at South Carolina, only this time, quarterback Kenny Minchey scored on the game-winning two-point conversion that gave the Wildcats their fourth straight win.
It marked the first time in school history that Kentucky (5-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) won back-to-back games in overtime.
"I'm running out of lives after that one," Kentucky coach Will Stein said. "There's really not a lot of words right now. I'm in shock. We beat a really good football team."
Stein took notice of ESPN GameDay Saturday morning as many analysts projected an LSU win. Instead, it was his first signature home win as coach of the Wildcats. He never wavered and escorted the Wildcats onto the field with former coach Rich Brooks, who led the Wildcats to a 40-34 upset win over the Tigers in 2007, the team's only loss during a national championship season.
"People count us out," Stein said. "... keep doing that. Gives us a lot of fuel, a lot of fire, because everybody doubts us. This is a really tough group."
It took a 33-yard field goal from Adam Zouagui to send the game into overtime. His heroics came after he missed two attempts — a 42-yard try that was wide left and a 26-yard attempt that sailed wide right in the fourth quarter.
LSU scored on its first possession in overtime and kicked the point after, while Kentucky matched the score on C.J. Baxter's 1-yard touchdown, setting the stage for another successful conversion by the Wildcats.
“There was nobody in the middle, so I figured I would run there,” Minchey said. “We had our play called, and I wasn't necessarily part of it, but that's what my read told me to do so I ran it in. It was great.”
For the second time this season, Kentucky led a top 10 team at the half. The Wildcats led No. 7 Alabama 17-14 after the first two quarters in their SEC opener on Sept. 12 but suffered a letdown in the second half, resulting in a 45-17 loss to the Crimson Tide.
The loss was a learning experience for the Wildcats, who rebounded the following week and pulled off a 31-21 upset against Texas A&M at College Station. The setback drove the Aggies into a tailspin, a stack of two losses in the past three games, including a 27-6 loss to surging Missouri on Saturday.
Last week, Kentucky needed overtime and a gutsy two-point conversion in overtime to overcome South Carolina, a win that looks better today than it did a week ago. The Gamecocks went to Gainesville on Saturday and left the Swamp with a 38-19 win, handing former Kentucky linebacker and assistant coach Jon Sumrall his second straight conference loss, a setback that will drop the Gators out of the Associated Press Top 25 when the rankings are released on Sunday.
Kentucky will likely find its way back into the rankings after debuting at No. 24 two weeks before falling out despite the win at South Carolina.
Stein admitted going for the conversion was more "chaotic" than it was a week ago in Columbia.
"It's just tough to stop those guys," Stein said.
Baxter set the stage for things to come in the first half with a 77-yard run on Kentucky's first possession that set up his own 3-yard touchdown. It was the first of 12 carries for Baxter, who rushed for 122 of his 123 yards in the first half.
Building on a fourth-and-one touchdown at the goal-line to end the first half that gave the Wildcats a 21-17 lead at the break, Ty Bryant's interception on the Tigers' first possession of the second half gave the Wildcats good field position deep in LSU territory, but this time, the Wildcats came up empty, turning the ball over on downs.
Minchey threw for 246 yards and was limited to one sack. He added 12 yards rushing and one touchdown. Kentucky's Brock Coffman had a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown as part of Kentucky's scoring output in the first half.
Minchey scores the two-point conversion in OT. Photo by Les Nicholson - Kentucky Today
