Kenny Minchey threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns to lead Kentucky to a 45-13 season-opening victory over Youngstown State on Saturday in Lexington, Ky.
The Will Stein coaching era at Kentucky got off to a rousing start by dominating one of the top teams in the Football Championship Subdivision. The Wildcats posted 506 yards of total offense — just the second time since the 2021 season that they topped 500 yards. They also had their highest-scoring opener since posting 45 points against Louisiana-Monroe on Sept. 4, 2021.
Minchey, a Notre Dame transfer, completed his first six passes and nine of his first 10 in his first collegiate start. CJ Baxter, a former Texas running back, amassed 45 yards and two scores on six first-quarter carries.
Kentucky scored touchdowns on its first three drives, then recovered a fumble at the Penguins ‘ 28 after punting on its fourth. That led to a 2-yard touchdown pass from Minchey to Willie Rodriguez, making it 28-0 with 1:51 left in the half.
The Penguins (1-1), ranked seventh in this week’s FCS coaches poll, converted 7 of 10 third downs in the first half but did not find the end zone until Beau Brungard hit Lynn Wyche-El for a 6-yard score with 20 seconds to go before halftime.
Minchey finished 18 of 27 and sat out the final three minutes. He was not as accurate (8 of 14) in the second half, but did toss a 37-yard touchdown to Kenny Darby that made it 42-13 with 12:48 remaining in the game.
Jason Robertson ran 11 times for a team-best 78 yards as eight Wildcats combined for 205 rushing yards on 34 carries.
Brungard, last season’s Walter Payton Award winner as the top offensive player in the FCS, completed 23 of 35 passes for 243 yards. Wyche-El caught seven of those passes for 111 yards.
