Kenny Minchey drove Kentucky to a tying field goal at the end of regulation and ran in the decisive two-point conversion in overtime as the Wildcats defeated No. 10 LSU 35-34 in Southeastern Conference play on Saturday night in Lexington, Ky.
CJ Baxter rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns, Minchey passed for 246 yards and the Wildcats (5-1, 3-1 SEC) won by the same score on a two-point overtime conversion as they did the previous Saturday at South Carolina.
Sam Leavitt passed for 275 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, Jackson Harris caught one of those scoring passes and tossed one of his own for LSU (4-2, 1-2).
Leavitt ran 15 yards for a touchdown on the second play of overtime, but Minchey’s 22-yard completion to Kenny Darby set up Baxter’s 1-yard touchdown run before Minchey ran in the game-winner.
Kentucky led 21-17 at halftime, but Scott Starzyk kicked a 24-yard field goal to pull the Tigers within one point at the end of the third quarter.
Adam Zouagui kicked a 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to increase the Wildcats’ lead to 24-20.
Harris caught a lateral from Leavitt and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Roman Mothershed to give LSU a 27-24 lead with 9:42 left.
Kentucky started at its own 19 with 1:37 remaining after a punt. Without any timeouts, Minchey drove the Wildcats from their 19 to the LSU 14, and Zouagui, who had missed would-be game-tying field goals from 42 and 26 yards earlier in the fourth quarter, made a 33-yarder with 12 seconds left to send the game into overtime.
LSU received the opening kickoff and opened the scoring on a 24-yard field goal from Starzyk. On the Wildcats’ first play from scrimmage, Baxter ran 77 yards, setting up his 3-yard touchdown run on the next play. Leavitt threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Zach Grace for a 10-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Brock Coffman returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown that gave Kentucky a 14-10 lead. LSU regained the lead on Leavitt’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Harris, but Minchey sneaked 1 yard for a touchdown on the final play of the half to give the Wildcats a 21-17 halftime lead.
