Kentucky football is 3-0 and that alone used to be historic.

The ninth-ranked Wildcats took down Youngstown State, 31-0, on Saturday in the program’s first win as an AP top 10 team since 1977.

As has been the case throughout the season, there’s no lack of things to like and things to be less than impressed with in the Wildcats’ triumph. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons from UK’s latest win:

3 things we liked

1. The continuing emergence of Carrington Valentine

Junior cornerback Carrington Valentine had a game to remember on Saturday. A year ago, offenses sometimes schemed to pick on Valentine. This year, they’d be better advised to scheme away from him.

Admittedly, Youngstown State didn’t have a ton of scoring opportunities. But its 2 best shots on the day were both taken away by Valentine. First, he knocked away a 4th-down pass from wide receiver Bryce Oliver in the end zone. Later, he deflected and then intercepted a fade pass intended for Oliver in the end zone.

For the season, Valentine now has 6 passes broken up to go with that interception.

2. Dane Key continuing to show up as WR1

Freshman Dane Key just had another Saturday of doing Dane Key things.

Not only is his third consecutive game with a receiving score impressive for a freshman, but with the third TD catch he tied the UK season record for touchdown catches by a freshman. In Week 3.

Key had 6 grabs for 90 yards and the TD. Perhaps more impressive is that all 3 scores have been very different. Key caught a TD on a skinny corner route against Miami of Ohio, hauled in a deep ball against Florida and scored on a 3-yard slant pass on Saturday.

After 3 games, Key has 13 catches for 226 yards and those 3 scores. Quite a start to a career.

3. Finishing the shutout

Despite how good Mark Stoops’ defensive teams have been — and this unit could rival the 2018 team’s defense for his best yet — Kentucky hadn’t managed a shutout since 2009, the final year of Rich Brooks’ tenure.

After holding Youngstown State to a single first down in the 1st half, there were a couple of bend-but-don’t-break moments for the UK defense late in the game. But the Wildcats answered the challenge and hung the donut on Youngstown.

3 things we didn’t like

1. Offensive line was offensive

Kentucky entered Saturday averaging just 1.8 yards per rush and having allowed 7 sacks, 2nd-most in the SEC. Saturday didn’t help much.

Kentucky managed 2.9 yards per carry against FCS Youngstown and allowed 4 more sacks. After a quarter of the regular season, not only is UK now at 2.2 yards per carry and 11 sacks allowed, but more alarming than negative plays is that Kentucky’s longest run of the season (aside from a Will Levis scramble) is 18 yards.

Obviously, the return of running back Chris Rodriguez in Week 5 will be significant. But Kentucky really needs more consistency across the offensive front.

2. Ball security issues

Coming off an emotional victory at Florida, it was hardly surprising that Kentucky was a little sloppy.

But 2 Levis interceptions and 4 fumbles was more than a little uneven. Granted, Kentucky only lost 1 of the 4 fumbles, but 3 turnovers brought back shades of Kentucky’s minus-11 turnover margin last season.

The SEC is hard enough without adding extra difficulty via the turnover.

3. Injury to J.J. Weaver

One of the major goals of nonconference play is to pick up some wins and — hopefully — not get players injured.

Unfortunately for Kentucky, linebacker J.J. Weaver, a leader of the defense, left the field in the 1st quarter with some type of upper-arm injury.

After the game, Stoops said he didn’t think the injury was “season-ending or anything,” but Kentucky needs Weaver as close to full strength as soon as possible.