Minchey shines in debut as Kentucky starts Stein era with win over Youngstown State 45-13

LEXINGTON, Ky -- — Kenny Minchey threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns to lead Kentucky to a 45-13 win over Youngstown State Saturday. Minchey, a Notre Dame transfer, led the Wildcats to three straight touchdowns to give Will Stein a win in his Kentucky head-coaching debut. Stein, former offensive coordinator at Oregon, played at Louisville (2008-12) and his father, Matt Stein, is a former Kentucky defensive end. “It’s very exciting,” Stein said. It’s something that I’ll cherish forever. My kids know that their dad and my wife knows that her husband’s got a job to do and we’ve got to continue to push, and we got you know stuff to improve on as a whole. I am really thankful that they’re here to support. They are my biggest fans. My wife’s my biggest cheerleader.” Texas transfer C.J. Baxter ran for two touchdowns, while returnee Jason Patterson paced the rushing attack with 78 yards. Minchey completed seven of his first eight passes, including a 33-yard completion to Kenny Darby to set up Kentucky’s first touchdown. Baxter capped Kentucky’s first scoring drive of the season with a 15-yard touchdown run. Baxter added a 5-yard scoring run in the first half. Behind Minchey, the Wildcats finished with 506 yards offense and limited Youngstown State to 305, including 43 in the opening quarter. Youngstown State (1-1) scored its first touchdown with 20 seconds left in the first half. Beau Brungard connected on 23 of 35 passes for 243 yards. The Penguins were held to 59 yards rushing. The Takeaway Youngstown State: The Penguins, the ninth-ranked team in FCS Stats Perform poll, fell to 0-2 against the Wildcats and have been outscored 86-13 in the two contests. The Penguins were successful on third down against the Wildcats, converting 8-of-15 chances. Kentucky: The Wildcats have won six straight home openers and improved to 23-0 against teams in the FCS since 1998. Kentucky defeated Youngstown 31-0 in the first meeting between the two teams in 2022. The 45 points were most scored by a first-year coach. Afari plays Alex Afari, Jr., a Kentucky linebacker seeking to play a fifth year, did play Saturday. He was one of several players who had sued the NCAA for eligibility after not being grandfathered into the NCAA’s new five-year eligibility system. A Jefferson County (Ky.) judge had granted a temporary restraining order making Afari eligible to play and the NCAA lost an appeal of that order on Friday. “He’s been practicing, but it’s it’s hard to be fully in on somebody if you don’t know he’s gonna be able to play,” Stein said. “We’ll continue to ramp him up, and we want him to be an impact player for us.” ‘Honoring Happy’ The Wildcats wore patches on the helmets in honor of late teammate Nic “Happy” Smith who died June 8. Smith was a redshirt defensive lineman from Augusta, Georgia. “We’re playing for him,” Stein said earlier this week. “He’s on my mind a lot, and we’ve left his seat open in our team room, and it’s just a reminder that life is precious and nothing’s guaranteed.” Up Next Youngstown hosts Duquesne next Saturday. Kentucky hosts No. 13 Alabama next Saturday in an Southeastern Conference opener for both. ---- Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full college football coverage here