Kentucky fell behind early and never fully recovered in a 48-20 loss to Florida Saturday night in Gainesville.
The Gators (4-3, 2-2 Southeastern Conference) snapped a rare three-game losing streak to the Wildcats. Kentucky dropped its second straight league game since posting a 20-17 win at Ole Miss on Sept. 28 and fell to 3-4 and 1-3 on the season.
Coming off a 20-13 loss to Vanderbilt, the Wildcats trailed 27-6 in the second quarter but scored 14 unanswered and narrowed the margin to 27-20 after scoring on its first possession of the second half.
The Gators responded with a touchdown of their own to secure a win on homecoming behind the play of backup quarterback DJ Lagway. In his second collegiate start, Lagway threw for 259 yards and rushed for 46 more.
Playing for injured starting signal caller Graham Mertz, Lagway threw four passes for more than 40 yards. Elijah Badger hauled in three passes for 148 yards, while running back Jadan Baugh rushed for 106 yards and scored five touchdowns for the Gators, who finished with 476 yards of offense against the Wildcats.
Brock Vandagriff threw for 165 yards, one touchdown and a pair of interceptions for Kentucky, while freshman signal caller Cutter Boley made his debut in the fourth quarter. On the first pass of his college career, Boley threw an inception that led to a decisive 29-yard touchdown in the fourth frame.
Kentucky converted just one fourth down on five attempts against the Gators.
The successful attempt came on the team’s first drive of the second half, Kentucky converted a desperation fourth down and short to keep the drive alive. The successful conversion led to a 1-yard score by backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt at the 8:34 mark of the third quarter.
For the second straight week, Kentucky was stopped on downs inside the goal line and came up short on a missed point after attempt.
BARION BREAKS RECORD
The lone bright spot for the Wildcats in the first half came in the second quarter when Barion Brown scored on a 99-yard kickoff return prior to the half. The return for a touchdown was the fifth of his collegiate career, which shattered the previous conference record.
Brown caught a pair of passes for 56 yards and one touchdown.
TRAYANUM MAKES DEBUT
Kentucky running back and Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum made his debut after missing the team’s first six games because of a hand injury.
Trayanum’s first carry was an eight-yard gain in the first half. Trayanum finished with 26 yards on seven carries.
Overall, the Wildcats finished with 309 total yards, including 144 yards rushing.
Gametracker: Auburn at Kentucky, 7:45 p.m. Saturday. TV/Radio: SEC Network, UK Radio Network.
