SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 8, 2012
Kentucky 47, Kent State 14: Maxwell Smith threw three of his four touchdown passes in the second half as host Kentucky steamrolled Kent State.
Smith threw for a career-high 354 yards on 30-of-39 passing and the Wildcats (1-1) ripped off 30 unanswered points in a 12-minute span to rebound from last week's loss to Louisville.
Raymond Sanders rushed for a career-best 115 yards and a touchdown and Aaron Boyd hauled in 11 catches for 100 yards and a TD as Kentucky won its seventh consecutive home opener.
The Wildcats appeared to be in for a battle when Kent State's Trayion Durham scored on a 26-yard run to cut the deficit to 17-14 with 11:50 left in the third quarter.
Instead, Kentucky responded by scoring 16 points in the next 3 minutes, 46 seconds, getting an 18-yard touchdown pass from Smith to Gene McCaskill and a 38-yard TD run by Jonathan George sandwiched around a safety for a 33-14 lead with 3:20 left in the third.
Smith tossed two more scoring passes early in the fourth - to La'Rod King and DeMarcus Sweat - to complete the 30-point binge as the Wildcats stretched the lead to 47-14 with 10:17 to play.
Dri Archer had a 47-yard scoring run in the first two minutes of the game to stake the Golden Flashes (1-1) to a 7-0 lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Wildcats scored more points than in any game last season and their 539 yards of total offense was their highest since the 2010 season. ... Kent State fell to 0-7 all-time against Kentucky, which improved to 5-0 against Mid-American Conference opponents with a victory margin of 32-plus points. ... Sweat's 56-yard scoring pass was his first career reception.