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LEXINGTON, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky trailed by only four with less than three minutes left in the first half, but the University of Kentucky scored a late first half touchdown to begin a run of 27 unanswered points on the way to a 37-12 victory over the Colonels on Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium.

Kentucky out-gained EKU 444 to 264. The Wildcats generated 234 yards on the ground and converted 9-of-17 third downs.

Redshirt freshman #T.J. Pryor tossed two interceptions while going 9-for-28 through the air for 137 yards for Eastern Kentucky. He rushed for 29 yards on seven carries. H.B. Banjoman# led the Colonels (5-4) with 35 yards on the ground and scored a touchdown. Orlandus Harris caught five passes for 97 yards.

Donald Russell carried three times for 92 yards for the Wildcats, including a 79-yard touchdown run. Moncell Allen finished with 62 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Alfonso Smith also scored a touchdown while running for 60 yards on 12 carries. Freshman Morgan Newton completed 20-of-29 pass attempts for 187 yards. He tossed two touchdown passes.

Kentucky took the opening kickoff and drove 61 yards in 12 plays to the EKU 10 yard line. UK utilized the ground game and the short passing game. Smith’s 12-yard run on the opening play was the longest of the drive. However, Robert Dees stopped Smith on 4th-and-1. The Colonels took over at the 10, but couldn’t move the ball in the right direction. Eastern was pushed back to the four yard line and was then forced to punt from deep in its own end zone.

The Wildcats took over at the Eastern 35 yard line on its second possession. This time Kentucky found the end zone at the end of a 9-play drive. Allen carried it to the one on a 6-yard rush. Two plays later Allen capped the drive with a touchdown from a yard out. The point-after made it 7-0 with 4:31 to go in the first quarter.

Kentucky was forced to punt on its next possession but the Colonels couldn’t move the ball and were forced to punt themselves.

The Wildcats put together another long drive. UK moved to the Eastern four yard line in 13 plays, however the 13th play was an incomplete pass on 3rd-and-goal. Lones Seiber converted a 22-yard field goal to extend the Kentucky lead to 10-0 with 6:06 remaining before halftime.

Eastern Kentucky answered with its first extended drive of the game. On 3rd-and-2, Pryor found Harris for 11 yards. On the next play, Pryor hooked up with Harris again, this time over the middle for 42 yards to the UK 11. The Colonels only picked up two more yards before being forced to attempt a field goal.

Junior Marcus Williams took the snap as the holder, but instead of putting the ball down for Logan O’Connor’s field goal attempt, he raced untouched to the right corner from nine yards out to cut the lead to four. The point-after attempt failed and the Colonels trailed 10-6 with 2:44 on the clock in the second quarter.

Kentucky added one more scoring drive before the half. Newton completed back-to-back passes of 15 and 16 yards to get the drive started. Two plays later Smith carried for 15 yards to the EKU one yard line. After being stopped on first down, Smith finished it off with a one-yard touchdown run. The extra point made it 17-6 at halftime.

UK opened the second half with another long drive. Deep in Eastern territory, Colonel cornerback Andre Evans nearly picked off a pass with nothing but clear sailing in front of him, but the senior couldn’t hold on to the ball. A pick-six could have cut the deficit to 17-14 early in the third quarter. The EKU defense ultimately held Kentucky to a field goal attempt, which missed to the left.

On their next possession, the Wildcats pushed out to a 24-6 lead. After taking over at the 50 yard line, UK drove the distance in nine plays. A 14-yard scoring pass from Newton to Maurice Grinter capped the drive with 2:28 left to play in the third quarter. Just over a minute later, an interception and one pass play extended the UK lead to 30-6. Newton connected with Chris Matthews from 18 yard out after Sam Maxwell picked off a pass by Pryor.

Both teams added a fourth quarter touchdown to set the final score. Banjoman capped Eastern’s 12-play, 60-yard drive with a two-yard scoring run. The touchdown was the third of the season for the sophomore.

The Colonels will finish off their non-conference schedule next Saturday when Western Carolina visits Roy Kidd Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Notes
-- Today’s game was just the third all-time meeting between the two teams, which are separated by only 29 miles.

-- Eastern Kentucky falls to 4-15 against NCAA FBS programs since 1978 when the Colonels joined the ranks of NCAA FCS.

-- Redshirt freshman Justin Bell partially blocked an extra-point attempt in the third quarter. The Colonel special teams unit has blocked a kick (punt, field goal, or PAT) in six straight games, and seven of the last eight.

-- #H.B. Banjoman#’s fourth quarter touchdown run was his third of the season and fourth of his career.