Kentucky didn’t just beat No. 10 LSU on Saturday night. It survived another overtime thriller, pulled off the same basic script it used a week earlier at South Carolina and finished with a one-point win that put Will Stein in a slice of college football history.
The Wildcats’ 35-34 victory came down to a familiar sequence. Kentucky won the overtime toss and chose defense, just as it did against South Carolina.
LSU scored first and kicked the extra point. Kentucky answered with a touchdown of its own.
On third-and-8 from the LSU 23, Kenny Minchey found Kenny Darby for 22 yards to the LSU 1. After Kentucky lost a yard, CJ Baxter punched it in from two yards out.
Then Stein made the same call he made in Columbia: he held up two fingers and went for the win. Kentucky spread the field with an empty backfield, and Minchey ran a quarterback draw untouched for the game-winning two-pointer.
According to ESPN, Kentucky became the first college football team ever to win back-to-back overtime games by one point.
The matchup also gave Minchey and LSU quarterback Sam Leavitt a chance to settle things head-to-head. Leavitt had been the first transfer quarterback to visit Kentucky after Stein took the job last December, but when that visit didn’t lead to a commitment, Kentucky moved on with the Notre Dame transfer. Leavitt ended up with Lane Kiffin and LSU.
Minchey finished 23 of 36 for 246 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. Leavitt completed 25 of 34 passes for 275 yards, threw two touchdown passes and one interception, and also lost a fumble. The night belonged to Minchey in the only column that mattered.
Kentucky also got major production from players with local roots. Former Sayre High School star Brock Coffman returned a punt 55 yards for a touchdown.
Ex-Frederick Douglass standout Ty Bryant had an interception and added six tackles. Another former Frederick Douglass player, nose tackle Jamarrion Harkless, piled up three tackles, 1.5 sacks, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry.
The Wildcats were also stretched thin at inside linebacker. On Friday’s injury report, Alex Afari, Antwan Smith and Tavion Wallace were all listed as out. Smith and Wallace were sidelined by injuries, while Afari was ruled ineligible for now after an adverse ruling from the Kentucky Court of Appeals.
That left Kentucky short behind Grant Godfrey and Bo Barnes, and both starters seemed to be on the field nearly every snap. Barnes finished with 12 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss, while Godfrey added 10 stops.
The win added a few more notable numbers to Kentucky’s season. The Wildcats are now 7-4 in the last 11 meetings with LSU in Lexington, though one of those wins - a 42-21 result in 2021 - was later vacated by the NCAA because of rules violations in the program. Kentucky is also now 2-4 against Lane Kiffin-coached teams, with the breakdown including 0-1 against Tennessee, 1-3 against Ole Miss and 1-0 against LSU.
Saturday’s result was only Kentucky’s fourth win in its last 19 SEC home games. And for Stein, it was another first: he is the first Kentucky head coach to start 5-1, and the first Kentucky coach ever to beat two AP Top 10 teams in his debut season, with the other coming in Week 3 at No. 9 Texas A&M.
Kentucky wore throwback uniforms for its 2026 Homecoming Game, featuring white helmets with the blue “Power K” logo, blue jerseys with white letters and numbers and white pants. The Wildcats are now 103-139-4 all-time in the “Power K.”
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Lane Kiffin Brought A Familiar Lexington Gameday Habit Back Again
Lane Kiffins gameday routine has become part of the soundtrack whenever he shows up in Lexington, and before LSUs primetime visit to Kentucky, the Tigers coach again leaned into the same habit he has kept for years: hot yoga. It is the kind of detail that has followed Kiffin through stops at Tennessee and Ole Miss, and it adds a little extra texture to a matchup that already has plenty of familiarity for Kentucky fans.
Kiffin has faced the Wildcats six times with three different schools, with the results bouncing around along the way, and his latest trip brought back a ritual that has become almost as recognizable as his sideline presence. Kentucky coach Will Stein has earned praise from Kiffin, even if he does not share the LSU coachs enthusiasm for hot yoga, which is just one more small contrast in a rivalry that keeps finding new layers. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Is Getting Doubted Again Before A Massive SEC Test
The build-up to Kentuckys SEC showdown with LSU has already turned into a familiar exercise in skepticism, at least if you listened to the College GameDay panel. Kentucky enters the matchup as an 8.5-point underdog, and the discussion around it reflected the split that tends to follow the Wildcats when the stage gets bigger. Kirk Herbstreit and Nick Saban offered cautious optimism about Kentuckys chances, while other voices on the panel stayed far more guarded about what the Wildcats might be able to do.
For Kentucky, that mix of respect and doubt is hardly new, but it does add a little more edge to a game that already matters plenty in the SEC picture. The conversation around the matchup also showed how differently the Wildcats are being viewed from network to network, which only makes the spot on the schedule feel heavier. The real test now is whether Kentucky can turn those mixed opinions into something more convincing once the game is played. [Read more 🡒]
Roman Harper Turns Kentucky's Latest Snub Into A Huge Statement Game
Roman Harper spent part of the pregame buildup making the case that Kentucky deserved more respect after its strong start under Will Stein, and it was a pointed reminder of how quickly perception can lag behind results in the SEC. The former Alabama safety, now an SEC Nation analyst, pointed to the Wildcats recent wins and the way they still found themselves slipping out of the AP Top 25, a move that added a little extra edge to a matchup already carrying plenty of weight.
Now Kentucky gets a primetime stage against LSU with a chance to turn that frustration into something tangible, and the conversation around the Wildcats has only grown louder because of it. The betting market has its own opinions about where Kentucky stands in this one, but Harpers message was aimed more at the bigger picture, the idea that this is the kind of game where a team can change how its viewed with one strong performance. [Read more 🡒]