LEXINGTON — Devin Leary threw three touchdowns and Ray Davis had 169 all-purpose yards as the Kentucky Wildcats routed the Akron Zips 35-3 on Saturday night at Kroger Field.
Leary completed 16 of 25 pass for 315 yards in the game, connecting on touchdowns to Josh Kattus, Tayvion Robinson and Davis.
Davis ran for 72 yards on seven carries and caught three passes for 97 yards as Kentucky rolled up 450 yards of total offense for the game.
Maxwell Hairston led the Kentucky defense with seven tackles, while teammate Trevin Wallace had five, including a pair of sacks.
Kentucky would drive down the field on their opening series, as Leary would hit Davis for a 39-yard completion to get deep into Akron territory. Then Leary would also scramble for another first down to move the chains. The drive would end when Leary connected with Kattus on a six-yard touchdown pass. Alex Raynor kick the extra point and Wildcats would take an early 7-0 lead.
Kentucky would threaten to add to their lead at the beginning of the second quarter, as Leary would hit Jordan Dingle for a 59-yard gain. But while fighting for extra yards, Dingle would have the ball stripped from him and the Zips would recover the ball in the end zone.
The Zips would drive as far as the Kentucky 30, but come up empty handed when Noah Perez's 47-yard field goal attempt would come up short.
Kentucky would take advantage and add to their lead, as Leary found Robinson in the back of the end zone for a 24-yard touchdown. Raynor's PAT would give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Akron would cut into Kentucky's lead with a 36-yard field goal by Perez field goal, to make it 14-3 with 3:27 left in the third period.
But the Wildcats would respond with the play of the game on their next drive and finally take control of the game.
On a third-and-11 play, Leary would find himself under pressure. But just before being sacked, he would get the ball to Davis, who then scampered 58 yards down the left sideline for the touchdown and give Kentucky a 21-3 lead with 1:38 to play in the third quarter.
After another Akron punt, the Wildcats would extend their lead on a 55-yard touchdown run by Davis to push the lead out to 28-3.
Late in the fourth quarter, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye would take a handoff and go for 42 yards to get the Wildcats deep into Akron territory. Two plays later, Sumo-Karngbaye scored from six yards out for his first touchdown in a Kentucky uniform. Raynor added the extra point and the Cats led 35-3 with 3:04 remaining.
Kentucky be on the road for the first time next Saturday, opening Southeastern Conference play against Vanderbilt. Kickoff is set for noon ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
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