It was a historic day rushing the football for Kentucky Wildcats senior running back Ray Davis on Saturday, but he did what he could to deflect praise off himself.
Davis was quick to give credit to his teammates, particularly his offensive line, minutes after he ran for 280 yards and accounted for four touchdowns during the Wildcats’ stunning 33-14 win over No. 22 Florida at Kroger Field.
“Personally, it was a great day for me, but I didn’t really do much today,” said Davis, who averaged 10.8 yards per carry on 26 rushing attempts. “You have to give credit to the O-line, tight ends and receiving corps. Those guys were blocking down the field, 20 yards. They were just staying with it and constantly going.”
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Davis wasn’t exaggerating at all, as holes were wide open at the line of scrimmage and second and third level defenders from the SEC’s top-ranked overall defense were often nowhere to be found on some of Davis’ runs. That was definitely the case on his 75-yard touchdown in the first quarter when Davis burst through the line of scrimmage and basically went untouched on the foot race to the end zone.
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When it was all over, Davis tied for the third-most yards rushing for the Wildcats and he had the second-most yards ever running the football against Florida. But the fact that the previously unranked Wildcats are now 5-0 overall and 2-0 and stand as the most legit threat to No.1 Georgia in the SEC Eastern Division is the biggest accomplishment.
“We are not going to be content with this performance,” said Davis, who will need another big performance when the Wildcats next head to visit the No.1 and the reigning national champion Bulldogs. “We have a lot more left in the tank and we have to get back to work on Sunday. We will enjoy this for 24 hours and then get to work.”
Saturday’s win could have been the spark the Wildcats need to carry them through the season. The tradition of the Big Blue Wall may have been resurrected after the much-maligned offensive line put forth a dominant showing against a respectable Gators defensive front.
The Wildcats owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football as evidenced by differential in rushing yards with Kentucky holding a 329 yards to 69 yards edge. The dominance up front also influenced the performances of both quarterbacks where Florida’s Graham Mertz was under pressure all day while Kentucky quarterback Devin Leary didn’t have to do as much and the offensive line didn’t allow him to be sacked at all on the day.
“Our guys came out strong and had a tough mindset,” said Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, whose team has now won four of the last six meetings with Florida. “We needed to go back to establishing the line of scrimmage, that is who we are. And to rush the ball for that many yards in the first half was really impressive by our team. I’ve been challenging the offensive line, the group, to be more consistent and to put it together and be who we are.”
Coach had been unhappy with Ray Davis
Stoops also had to give it up to Davis after he had been critical of the Vanderbilt transfer for not being disciplined in the run game previously this season.
“What a great individual performance,” Stoops said of Davis. “He will be the first one to tell you, you know, the line obviously did a great job pushing people around, but he made people miss and he ran around people and through people and over people, you name it. Give him a lot of credit for individual effort.”
Understandably, while Stoops had praise for his team, Florida coach Billy Napier wasn’t at all pleased with the way the Gators were dominated from a physicality standpoint Saturday. The Gators (3-2, 1-1 SEC) have now lost three straight to Kentucky, the first time that has happened since the Wildcats ran off four straight victories in the series from 1948-1951.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the first quarter and were clearly in control by halftime with a 23-7 advantage over Florida.
“I think hats off to Kentucky and Coach Stoops, they were ready to play and flat out beat us,” Napier said. “They were the more physical team, they controlled the line of scrimmage, the edges of the formations, they protected their quarterback and we did not win the line of scrimmage or the edges and they affected our quarterback.”
As for Davis, his historic day didn’t seem to affect him much. He tried to stay above what he was accomplishing on the field and remain in the moment, even as his teammates attempted to convince him otherwise.
“I wasn’t really too into it. I was just trying to keep my head in the game,” said Davis, who began his college career at Temple, then transferred to Vanderbilt before he ended up at Kentucky earlier this year. “I think once you focus on the statistical part of the game, you start to lose your mojo and your juice. Guys were coming up to me and congratulating me and I was like, ‘it is only the first quarter, we have to keep going and have to keep pounding.’ The result showed today, getting the W.”
Terrance Harris covers college sports for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.