AUSTIN (UT Athletics) -- No. 3 Texas used a dominant defensive performance and rushed for a season-high 251 yards to outlast Kentucky, 31-14, on Saturday in front of a crowd of 102,811 at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium.
The Longhorns had a pair of strong rushing performances, with Quintrevion Wisner carrying the ball 26 times for 158 yards and two touchdowns and Jaydon Blue going for 96 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
The Longhorns' defense held Kentucky to 232 yards of total offense and just 21 rushing yards, well below the Wildcats' season average of 157.1 rushing yards per game. Texas also tied its season high with six sacks in the game and finished with 11 total tackles for loss.
With Jelani McDonald's first career interception in the first half, Texas has Texas has forced a turnover in all 11 games this season and in 19-straight games overall. Andrew Mukuba also intercepted a pass in the closing seconds of the game for the Longhorns' seventh multiple-interception game of the season.
Quinn Ewers finished 20-for-31 passing for 191 yards and two touchdowns, both to Gunnar Helm. Ewers extended his streak of consecutive games with a passing touchdown to 22, the second-longest streak in program history. He now has 60 career touchdown passes, which ties him with Major Applewhite for the third-most by a Longhorn quarterback.
Helm had a great receiving game, catching five passes for 51 yards and the two touchdowns. Matthew Golden was the leading receiver with seven catches for 86 yards.
Texas opened the game with a methodical 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by a three-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to Helm. Kentucky answered early in the second quarter with a game-tying 73-yard touchdown drive.
The Longhorns had an immediate response to the Wildcats' score, retaking the lead 14-7 midway through the second quarter. Blue, who had five carries on the drive for 31 yards, finished off the series with a five-yard touchdown run.
The Texas defense got the ball back to the offense with McDonald's first career interception and the Longhorns quickly cashed in. Ewers found Helm in the endzone for the second time in the game, this time from 17-yards out to extend the lead.
Bert Auburn tacked on three more points to the lead just before halftime with a season-long 49-yard field goal.
The Wildcats defense got into the endzone late in the third quarter, returning a fumble 25-yards for a touchdown to trim the lead to 24-14.
Texas put the game away late in the fourth quarter with an absolutely dominant drive on the ground. The Longhorns used a 15-play, 86-yard drive that elapsed 8:22 and all 15 plays were rushes by Wisner and Blue.
UP NEXT
Texas heads on the road for the regular season finale at Texas A&M on Saturday, Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. on ABC.
Courtesy Texas Athletics