BY THE NUMBERS: Texas 31, UK 14

Kentucky played Texas competitively during stretches of Saturday’s game in Austin but an ugly stretch in the second quarter gave the Horns a lead they would never relinquish.

Here are some of the key numbers that tell the story of what happened in the game.

209 … More yards for Texas than Kentucky. That’s not surprising but speaks to the challenge. The Horns had 441 yards of offense with a lot of balance (250 on the ground, 191 through the air) while the Cats mustered only 211 yards of offense, almost all of which was passing.

160 … The total passing yards for Cutter Boley. The freshman was 10/18 for 160 yards and an interception. Boley entered the game because Brock Vandagriff was struggling and he did a lot to impress. He saw the field well, made some confident reads and delivered catchable balls down the field.

158 … Rushing yards for Texas’ Quintrevion Wisner. The Longhorns rushed for 250 yards on the game.

25:30 … Time of possession for Kentucky in the game. Any upset bid would have been aided by Kentucky controlling the ball more than Texas. That did not happen.

20 … Carries for Kentucky running backs Jamarion Wilcox (50 yards) and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (30 yards). Wilcox had a long of 18 while DSK’s long was just six yards. The backs had decent success considering the opponent but Boley was charged with -57 rushing yards.

17 … Second quarter points for the Longhorns. That’s when the game appeared to be decided. First, the Horns went 65 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown. Then after a Vandagriff pick they scored again quickly before adding a field goal as the half ran out.

11 … Fumbles in the game. It was almost comical how often the ball was bouncing at times. Kentucky fumbled five times but didn’t lose one of them, while Texas fumbled six times and lost two.

10 … Tackles for sophomore Texas linebacker Anthony Hill, who we said coming into the game was playing at an All-American level. He had two sacks and three tackles for loss as the most active, productive Texas defender in the game. He was a problem Kentucky couldn’t account for.

6 … Sacks by the Texas defense. That led to UK only being credited with 21 rushing yards on the game, but more important was the impact on UK’s offensive results. The protection issues have been persistent all season.

2/12 ... Kentucky on third down. That’s not going to get it done in a game like this. That’s a big reason why Texas ran 23 more plays than Kentucky, and had the ball for 10 minutes longer. The big problem was that Kentucky averaged 11.1 yards to go on third down today.

0 … The turnover margin in the game. That gave Kentucky a chance to play somewhat competitively. Both teams had seven points off turnovers with UK’s being Jamon Dumas-Johnson’s return.