Kentucky’s win over South Alabama had plenty of big numbers attached to it, but the most encouraging one might have belonged to Jovantae Barnes.
In a 45-21 victory that pushed the Wildcats to 3-1, Kentucky’s backfield stole the spotlight in a way that’s hard to ignore. CJ Baxter ran for 149 yards on 16 carries and scored the first touchdown of the day.
Jason Patterson turned 12 carries into 137 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard burst. Barnes, though, brought the emotional punch to the afternoon, finishing with 100 yards on eight carries and a touchdown - his first score since Sept. 15, 2025, against Temple during his time at Oklahoma.
“It was a blessing,” Barnes remarked after the game. “I just thank God.
My whole college career has been ups and downs, but I just thank God for keeping me on this journey. It's truly a blessing to be here.”
That kind of payoff felt far from certain not long ago. Barnes has been dealing with injuries throughout his career, appeared in only four games last season, and Kentucky coach Will Stein said his most recent injury was picked up in the spring for the Cats. That setback wiped out the rest of spring, all of summer, all of fall and most of the season leading up to this point.
Barnes made his Kentucky debut in Week 2 against Alabama, but the rust showed. In that game, his first after being cleared, he had three carries for minus-2 yards and added one catch for four yards. The body was back on the field, but the rhythm clearly wasn’t there yet.
“It’s very frustrating,” Barnes said of how he’s stayed positive through the setbacks. “But I have a lot of good people in my corner.
My mom, my family, my agent, coaches here. I have a lot of good people in my corner that truly believe in me and I believe in myself, too.
I just put my head down and work.”
He didn’t play in Kentucky’s win over then No. 9 Texas A&M in College Station, but against South Alabama he looked like a different runner from the opening series. Barnes took his first snap in the second quarter and picked up eight yards right away, then added five more on the next play.
His touchdown came on the next touch, 1:27 later in game time. Taking a handoff from Kenny Minchey, Barnes powered ahead, got clipped by a Jaguars defender and kept churning. He hit his offensive line, appeared to bounce back a step, then drove forward again and dove into the end zone.
“We were always taught to keep our eyes up,” Barnes said. “I felt the guy come off the edge.
I knew either I was gonna make a miss or something was gonna happen. I felt something was outside to the right, (so I) just rolled off of it, (and) it was wide open.”
His teammates loved it, too. Baxter said the celebration nearly got the better of him.
“It was super exciting. If you go back and look when he scored, I almost passed out trying to celebrate for him, hitting my chest and stuff,” Baxter said with a laugh.
“Man, he's put in the work to get back to being healthy to how he played today. It was amazing to see him and JP have the success that they have.
I was more happy for them than I was for myself.”
Patterson had a simpler read on the play.
“Crazy,” Patterson said. “The run he had to get in the end zone, that's what Vontae is.
He's a feisty runner. Very physical, hard to bring down, and it showed on that play.”
Barnes didn’t score again, but he still flashed the burst Kentucky was hoping to see. He ripped off runs of 39 and 21 yards before taking his final snap late in the third quarter. Once the game was out of reach, the Wildcats went deeper into the running back depth chart to protect the starters, and that brought the day for Patterson, Barnes and Baxter to an end.
Even with some sloppy stretches, Stein came away sounding much more confident about his backfield than he did before the season, when he said he felt “okay” about the room.
“I definitely do,” Stein said when asked if he felt better about the room. “It's much better when you got three and Vontae out there.
He's got explosive ability for sure. We like rotating those guys.”
The competition gets tougher from here, but Kentucky’s running back trio gave the Wildcats a look at what it can be when all three are rolling. That group’s next test comes Saturday, Oct. 3, when Kentucky travels to South Carolina and Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia.
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