OFFENSE: B-

Kentucky didn’t do anything to cost itself on offense, but it wasn’t exactly impressive on that side of the ball, either. There were impressive individual performances, like tailback Boom Williams (104 yards, 1 touchdown) and wideout Javess Blue (109 yards, 2 touchdowns), but as a whole the offense was merely average. Patrick Towles completed just 57 percent of his passes for only 216 yards, although he did throw for three touchdowns in the victory. Aside from Williams, no other Wildcat managed more than 17 yards on the ground. One week after picking apart the South Carolina defense, Jojo Kemp earned just 11 yards on six carries, and threw a hideous interception on his first pass attempt of the season out of the “WildKemp” formation. The Wildcats were 1-of-12 on third downs on the afternoon. It’s tough to say the offense had a bad game after scoring 48 points, but it left room for improvement heading into the second half of the season.

DEFENSE: B+

The Wildcats allowed 14 early points to the ULM offense, but they slammed the door shut in the final three quarters, overwhelming the Warhawks on every possession. Kentucky forced three turnovers in the rout, including a pair of pick-sixes by linebacker Josh Forrest and defensive back Marcus McWilson to further inflate the lead. It was the first time the UK defense scored two touchdowns in a game since 2008, and the Cats are now up to 11 interceptions on the year after recording just three picks in 2013. The front seven was no match for the Warhawks’ offensive line, limiting ULM to just 77 yards on the ground while adding six sacks in pass defense. Bud Dupree and Za’Darius Smith combined to record 2.5 of those sacks, and as a team Kentucky recorded a whopping 12 tackles for loss on its way to victory. The defense would have earned an A, but allowing two early touchdowns at home docked its grade to an honest B+.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A

The Wildcats’ special teams were fantastic against ULM, even though kicker Austin MacGinnis missed his fourth field goal of the year in the victory. MacGinnis drilled two other field goals and all six of his PATs to redeem himself for the miss from 52 yards, which is not an easy kick for most kickers. Landon Foster averaged only 35 yards per punt, but all five of his punts landed inside the ULM 20 yard line without a single touchback, swinging the field position battle into UK’s favor. Williams returned the opening kickoff 75 yards, leading to a UK field goal on the opening drive, and Demarco Robinson and Ryan Timmons combined to return six punts for an average of 13 yards per return. The Wildcats looked sharp in every facet of the special teams, earning a resounding A for this week’s performance.

COACHING: B

The Wildcats coaches were brilliant on Saturday in keeping the team composed despite the early hole. Offensive coordinator Neal Brown never deviated from his gameplan, and eventually the Cats ran through ULM in their thrilling second quarter resurgence. Stoops and Eliot led a stout defense that never let the Warhawks come up for air. However, Kentucky committed six penalties for 54 yards, and although those fouls did not cost UK on Saturday, those kinds of sloppy mistakes will come back to haunt the Cats later in the season. The coaching has been superb all season, but Kentucky still has a few areas to clean up for its stretch run.

OVERALL: A

Kentucky won by 34 points and improved to 5-1 for the first time since 2007. The Cats showed resiliency in overcoming an early deficit, and showed overwhelming athleticism in blowing past ULM in a convincing victory. Sure, the Cats could have played better at times, but for the most part they played as well as the score indicates. And that score indicates an A performance, so that’s what they’ll get. UK fans have a lot to be excited about heading into the final six games of the season.