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    • Mark Stoops’ team takes victory in week 1
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    Mark Stoops’ team takes victory in week 1

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    LEXINGTON — The only thing that could overshadow Brock Vandagriff’s long-awaited debut was thunder. And lightning.

    But Vandagriff brought his own thunder on Saturday night, along with some well-placed lightning bolts courtesy of his right arm.

    Southern Miss proved no match for Vandagriff, as Kentucky’s new starting quarterback led the home team to a weather-shortened 31-0 victory at Kroger Field.

    “I thought he did a great job of making good decisions, pulling the ball downfield, wrestling for tough yards, buying time in the pocket to throw it and then throwing it on time and in rhythm,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said, referring to Vandagriff. “We hit some shots downfield when we got more plays.”

    While Vandagriff outperformed his opponent on the field, Mother Nature fought him to a draw: The game was halted at 12:30 a.m. Sunday after lightning strikes were detected within 8 miles of the stadium. When the game was halted, there was 9:56 left in the third quarter.

    “By mutual agreement of the participating institutions, as permitted by NCAA rules, tonight’s game between Kentucky and Southern Mississippi has been terminated and is deemed a complete game with a final score of 31-0 in favor of Kentucky,” UK athletics said in a statement Sunday. “All statistics in the game are considered final and complete.”

    The Wildcats’ 1-0 victory came on a night when the elements were against them. Saturday’s season opener was scheduled to start at 7:45. Instead, bad weather delayed the start by more than two hours.

    At 10:05 p.m., Southern Miss (0-1) finally kicked off to Kentucky to open the game.

    And then the SEC’s Wildcats dominated the Sun Belt’s Golden Eagles.

    In large part, it was due to the efforts of Vandagriff, who completed 66.7 percent (12 of 18) of his passes for 169 yards and three touchdowns. Two of the touchdown passes went to junior receiver Barion Brown — both for 12 yards, one in the first quarter and another with just 31 seconds left before halftime. The third TD went to tight end Jordan Dingle for the game’s final score, which came at the 9:56 mark of the third period.

    A little later the teams left the field.

    They never came back.

    Vandagriff said he had never experienced anything like the starts and stops of Saturday night.

    “It’s definitely different, you know? Like there were multiple times where we were standing up, putting on our shoulder pads, getting ready to walk out,” he said. (And then we were told), ‘Ah, you have to go back.’ That happened two or three times.

    “So eventually people took off their shoulder pads — put them on the ground and stuff. It’s just different … trying to mentally prepare yourself three times. But in the end, both teams had to do it.”

    Kentucky stays home for its next game, as it jumps into SEC competition on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against South Carolina in a nationally televised matchup. USC was less than impressive in its own opener, barely holding on to defeat Old Dominion 23-19 in Columbia, South Carolina.

    But the Gamecocks have defeated the Wildcats the past two seasons, with South Carolina winning 24-14 in Lexington in 2022 and winning 17-14 at home last season.

    “We’ve got a league game next week. … It’s late for these guys to be out of here,” Stoops said. “They need to go home and try to get some sleep.”

    Contact Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at [email protected] and follow him at X @RyanABlack.

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