Kentucky defense takes over late, Wildcats win 21-13 at Oklahoma to share SEC lead

No. 15 Kentucky did not move the ball much for most of Saturday night in Norman. It won 21-13 anyway, because its defense took the game away from Oklahoma in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats intercepted John Mateer four times, and Jordan Castell returned one of them for the touchdown that put the game away. The win makes Kentucky 6-1 and bowl eligible, and with Georgia, Alabama and Texas all losing earlier in the day, the Wildcats are 4-1 in the SEC and share first place, 247Sports reported.

ESPN's full highlights show how it turned. Kentucky opened with a long scoring drive that included a fourth-down conversion, and Kenny Minchey finished it with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Willie Rodriguez. LEX 18 noted that Oklahoma had held every earlier opponent to a field goal or less on its opening drive. After that the offense stalled. Kentucky had 119 yards at halftime, per 247Sports, and played the whole night without running back CJ Baxter, who went through warmups but never got on the field.

Oklahoma took control in the second quarter. The Sooners did throw away points on a failed fake field goal, which Castell intercepted. Late in the half they went 90 yards, and Mateer hit tight end Rocky Beers for a 20-yard touchdown and a 10-7 lead. A third-quarter field goal made it 13-7. On3's Kentucky Sports Radio counted Oklahoma 8-of-17 on third down, from an offense that came in ranked near the bottom of the country in that category.

It flipped in the fourth. Mi'Quise Humphrey-Grace got a hand on Mateer's arm, the ball floated up, and Ty Bryant intercepted it and returned it into Oklahoma territory. Minchey and Rodriguez connected again for the tying touchdown, and Adam Zouagi's extra point made it 14-13 with 12:53 left. With Oklahoma driving for a go-ahead field goal, Mateer was sacked for the fifth time and then threw the pass Castell returned 41 yards for a touchdown. Bryant picked off one more in the final minute. According to LEX 18, Castell finished with nine tackles, two interceptions and a pass breakup. A Sea of Blue credited Humphrey-Grace with two tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

What it means for Vanderbilt week

Kentucky hosts Vanderbilt on Saturday, Oct. 24, on SEC Network. The Wildcats have won five straight, and the last three have been close: 35-34 at South Carolina, 35-34 over No. 10 LSU and now an eight-point win in Norman. They are 3-0 on the road in league play, with wins at Texas A&M, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Through seven games Kentucky has scored 229 points and allowed 181. Most of that gap comes from the 17-45 loss to Alabama and the 45-13 opener against Youngstown State.

The question for Vanderbilt is whether Baxter returns. Without him, Kentucky could not run the ball on Saturday, and the line struggled to protect Minchey. Its two previous SEC wins came in shootouts, and Saturday's needed the defense to produce points. That is not a formula Kentucky can count on every week.

Oklahoma drops to 3-3, a week after beating No. 1 Texas 27-24. The Sooners have scored 14 points or fewer in four of their six games, including losses at Michigan and Georgia. Next they travel to No. 16 Mississippi State on Oct. 24. Oklahoma's defense was good enough to win this game. Turnovers lost it, and Mateer will have to cut them out in Starkville.