Kentucky scores early, often to beat Murray State for fourth victory

Jamarion Wilcox rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries to help lead Kentucky to a 48-6 win over Murray State in Lexington on Saturday.

Brock Vandagriff went 12-of-19 passing for 183 yards for the Wildcats.

Kentucky (4-6) snapped a four-game losing streak and kept its hopes for bowl eligibility alive entering games at Texas and home to Louisville to end the season.

Jim Ogle went 10-of-24 passing for 156 yards and an interception in defeat for Murray State (1-10), which lost its eighth straight game.

James London hit field goals of 32 and 36 yards to provide the only points of the game for the Racers.

The Wildcats amassed 582 yards of total offense, 269 rushing yards and 31 first downs and scored at least 20 points for the fifth time this season.

The game was filled with penalties. Murray State committed 15 penalties for 112 yards, while Kentucky had nine penalties for 87 yards.

Kentucky got going on offense in the first quarter, taking a 14-0 lead on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Vandagriff to Hardley Gilmore with 11:09 remaining and a 3-yard TD run with 1:00 to go by Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.

Following Alex Raynor's 32-yard field goal with 5:27 left in the second quarter, Kentucky took a 24-0 lead with 11 seconds before halftime on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Vandagriff to Ja'Mori Maclin.

Kentucky had 318 yards of total offense in the first half.

The Wildcats kept it rolling in the second half, taking a 31-0 lead with 11:42 remaining in the quarter on Wilcox's 4-yard touchdown run.

In the fourth quarter, Kentucky went up 48-6 on a pair of touchdown passes from Cutler Boley to Anthony Brown-Stephens, one from 22 yards out and another from 14 yards.

The Racers' JK Carter finished with seven receptions for 130 yards, an 18.6-yard average.

--Field Level Media