On Friday I provided Kentucky fans with a guide for how to determine if UK’s opener was a success.

The results are in: this game was an overwhelming success.

Let’s take a look back at the guide to success and see how it applies to what actually took place on the field Saturday afternoon.

  1. Kentucky wins by at least 24: The Cats led by 21 early in the second quarter, by 35 at half and by 52 through three quarters on their way to a 45 point victory over UT Martin. The Cats have beaten every FCS opponent they’ve faced by at least 24 points since 2009, and maintaining that streak against the Skyhawks proved this win was no fluke.
  2. Patrick Towles completes 65 percent of his passes: Towles was 20-of-29 passing in his debut as UK’s starter, good for a completion rate of 69 percent. He looked confident in the pocket and showed great poise as the leader of the Cats offense, throwing for a touchdown to Blake Bone without commiting a turnover. He also ran for a 23-yard touchdown, which has nothing to do with his completion percentage but does help exemplify how dominant he looked against UTM.
  3. The defense holds the Skyhawks to 17 points or less: The defense held UTM to only 14 points, all of which came in garbage time in the fourth quarter. UK forced the Skyhawks into five turnovers for the game, and scored a defensive touchdown on Khalid Henderson’s 89-yard scoop-n-score after Kendall Randolph forced a fumble deep in enemy territory. Kentucky did allow 183 yards on the ground but tightened up at the right times, keeping UT Martin off the scoreboard for more than 48 minutes to start the game.
  4. The Cats win the turnover margin: The UK defense forced five turnovers (see above), and the offense managed to avoid committing a single turnover for the game.  The Cats registered a defensive touchdown and killed a few potential UTM scoring drives by forcing so many turnovers, widening the margin on the scoreboard in the process.
  5. Landon Foster averages 42 yards per punt: Foster only had to attempt one punt for the game – a garbage time boot in the fourth quarter that soared 46 yards to flip field position. So, technically, Foster averaged 46 yards per punt on the afternoon. The fact he only had to punt the ball one time is more indicative of UK’s success Saturday than the 46 yards that punt traveled, but it applies to Friday’s guide to success nonetheless.