CJ Baxter’s weekend in College Station carried plenty of weight, and he made the most of it.
Kentucky walked into Texas A&M ranked No. 9 in the country and left with a 31-21 upset, with Baxter doing major damage on the ground. He carried the ball 19 times for 87 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats knocked off the Aggies in a game that pushed Kentucky closer to the national conversation.
For Baxter, the performance meant more than just a big stat line. The Texas transfer said the moment hit hard after everything he’s been through in his college career.
“I’m super excited, man,” Baxter said on College Sports Radio on Sirius XM. “It definitely (was) emotional, personally and for the team … The preparation that we put in, (we knew) it was gonna pay off, and that’s exactly what it did.
But then for me personally, super emotional. You know, I was emotional after the game when I took a moment to sit down and decompress.
I’ve been through a lot the last two, three years of my career, and just going out there and performing the way I perform … (I don’t have) words. I can’t get enough words for it.”
Through three games this season, Baxter has put up 39 carries for 164 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 4.2 yards per carry. He’s also added three catches for 43 yards, and he’s fitting cleanly into Will Stein’s system.
Kentucky’s win also looked like a direct response to what happened a week earlier. Against Alabama, the Wildcats jumped out to a 17-13 halftime lead before fading in a 45-17 loss. Baxter said the message this time was simple: finish.
“If you go look at last week, it was kind of the opposite,” Baxter said. “If you think about it, you know we scored points in the first half, then the second half we didn’t, and we talked about this weekend about finishing, finishing, one-play mentality, and that’s all we talked about on the sideline.
One play, one play mentality. It doesn’t matter what happened.
The play before, the play after is all about this play. So I think that’s what it was.”
The emotions didn’t stop when the game ended. Baxter said he spoke with former NFL wide receiver Chad Ochocinco and Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe after the win, then reflected on how badly he wanted a fresh start.
“That’s why I wanted a change, you know what I’m saying?” Baxter continued.
“Freshman year, I was an All-American, all of that, you name it, whatever. Sophomore year, I tore my knee two weeks before the first game, so I missed the whole year.
And then last year, you know, coming back off the knee, I just didn’t feel like myself. I felt like I needed a change, and this was the place that won me over.”
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Adam Zouagui has handled the kicking job since Jacob Kauwe went down with an injury in fall camp, and the early returns have been encouraging for Kentucky. Through the first three games, Zouagui has made 3 of 4 field goal tries, capped by a career-long 52-yarder against Texas A&M, a kick that showed both leg strength and the kind of poise the Wildcats needed in a close-range, high-pressure role.
Still, the job is not locked up. Kentucky coach Will Stein said Zouagui and Kauwe are still competing for the kicker spot in practice, and he has praised both players for how they have handled the situation. For a team that knows how quickly special teams can swing a game, the battle adds another layer of intrigue as the Wildcats sort out one of the most pressure-packed positions on the roster. [Read more 🡒]
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Kentuckys reshaped roster is already drawing national attention, and CBS Sports added another layer of validation this week when Isaac Trotter broke down the sports top players by position. The Wildcats showed up across the board in his lineup of impact talent, with Zoom Diallo pegged as the initiator at point guard, Alex Wilkins slotted as a combo guard, Milan Momcilovic labeled the top off-ball wing and Malachi Moreno listed as a true center.
For a team trying to build around a new mix of skill sets, that kind of spread says plenty about the options on hand. Diallo is expected to organize the offense, Wilkins gives Kentucky another backcourt piece with versatility, Momcilovic adds a wing threat, and Moreno anchors the middle as a classic five. There is still a lot to learn about how it all fits together once the season starts, but the early read from one national observer is clear: this roster has real positional depth and more than one player capable of shaping the Wildcats ceiling. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Texas A&M Win Felt Even Bigger Behind The Scenes
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Will Steins role in the win comes through clearly in the new footage, with the head coach providing the kind of sideline presence that helps explain why the Wildcats stayed composed away from home. The series captures more than just the final score, offering a fuller look at how Kentucky managed the emotional and tactical side of one of its more meaningful conference road wins. [Read more 🡒]