Will Stein’s first Kentucky team has found a simple formula, and it’s carrying the Wildcats into the thick of the SEC race.
Kentucky is 6-1, ranked No. 12 in the AP Top 25 and tied with No. 4 Georgia for the conference lead at 4-1.
The flashiest image from this run has been Stein holding up two fingers before the Wildcats cashed in game-winning two-point conversions in back-to-back overtime wins at South Carolina and against LSU. But the bigger story is far less dramatic and a whole lot more repeatable: Kentucky has been clean, sharp and remarkably hard to beat itself.
Through seven games, the Wildcats have played some of the most disciplined football in the country. They are tied for the 19th-fewest penalties in the FBS, with 33 flags for 311 yards.
Kenny Minchey has thrown only one interception all season, which puts Kentucky among the teams with the fewest picks in the nation. And after the secondary grabbed four interceptions in last Saturday’s 21-13 win at Oklahoma, the Cats are tied for second in the FBS with 11 interceptions.
That has helped Kentucky climb to tied for fourth nationally in turnover margin at plus-11.
“Turnover margin, penalties are stuff that we take pride in,” Stein said after the win at Oklahoma. “This gives you more chances to win.
It doesn’t guarantee success or wins, but it does give you the ball back more. And so, you know, we definitely got to continue doing that.”
That level of precision stands out even more because it is the opposite of what Kentucky had become in the previous four seasons. The 2025 team finished 5-7 and helped bring the Mark Stoops era to a close after 13 seasons, while ranking 116th in the FBS in turnover margin at minus-8. In 2024, Kentucky went 4-8 and sat No. 109 in turnover margin at minus-7, while also ranking No. 114 in sacks allowed with 35 and No. 126 in interceptions thrown with 17.
The mistakes were not limited to those two seasons. In 2023, Kentucky lost 17-14 at South Carolina after committing three turnovers, a result that cost the Wildcats an eight-win regular season. That same year, UK took a 21-10 lead over Clemson into the fourth quarter of the Gator Bowl, only to lose 38-35 after turning it over four times in the final period.
The damage had shown up before that, too. Four years ago, an illegal procedure penalty wiped out what would likely have been the winning touchdown pass in a 22-19 loss at Ole Miss. And in another game, an illegal hands to the face penalty erased what would have been a game-clinching interception in a 24-21 loss to Vanderbilt.
So far, Stein has flipped that script.
“We preach ball excellence in our program,” Stein said. “That’s protecting the ball, and, obviously, creating takeaways.”
The numbers make the point clearly. The top five teams in the FBS in turnover margin right now - New Mexico at plus-17, Notre Dame at plus-14, Kentucky at plus-11, Tulsa at plus-11 and UCLA at plus-10 - are a combined 27-6. The bottom five - Nevada at minus-8, Oklahoma at minus-8, Marshall at minus-9, Sacramento State at minus-10 and Charlotte at minus-12 - are a combined 10-22.
Minchey has been a major reason Kentucky has stayed on the right side of that equation. In his first seven games as a college starter, the Notre Dame transfer has thrown one interception, against Alabama, and lost two fumbles, one against Alabama and one against South Alabama. Those are his only turnovers.
The 6-foot-2, 211-pound fourth-year player from Hendersonville, Tennessee, has also gone five games without a turnover, including all four of Kentucky’s SEC victories so far at Texas A&M, at South Carolina, against LSU and at Oklahoma.
Minchey said staying locked in from snap to snap is a big part of the equation.
“Whenever you get your eyes off your keys or eyes off your read in my position, or anybody else’s position, that’s whenever mistakes happen,” Minchey said.
With five games left, starting with Saturday night’s game against Vanderbilt (3-4, 0-4 SEC), Kentucky will try to keep the same standard intact. Stein pointed out after the Oklahoma win that one “loose” game can quickly change a season.
“I know how quickly that can turn if you don’t take care of business the following week,” he said.
For now, Kentucky’s rise is built on a lesson as old as the sport itself: stop beating yourself, and you give yourself a chance to beat everybody else.
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