Takeaways from Kentucky's sloppy win over Toledo on Saturday

Kentucky football opened the 2025 season on Saturday against Toledo, who was a popular MAC upset pick among many of the public. Entering the season hoping for a massive changed, Kentucky's on-field product looked more of the same as last season, especially offensively. It was a very slow and sloppy one, but Kentucky ultimately got the job done, winning 24-16.

The Wildcats went into halftime up 10-2, their only touchdown coming with a Calzada QB-keeper at the 1-yard line to begin the game. From there, the offense stalled on nearly all of their possessions, including coming away with no points on two-straight drives in the third quarter. It was the defense that held the glue together for the Wildcats on Saturday all in all, as the pass-rush was absolutely swarming all game. The unit looked to have gotten comfortable late, as they allowed Toledo to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter after not allowing one all game before then.

Let's take a look at a few takeaways from the sloppy Week 1 opener for the Wildcats

Defense pass rush looks to be promising

The defense started the season with an interception, and that set the tone for the rest of the game. Kentucky was able to not only come away with an interception, but also repeatedly got to the quarterback with their incredible pass-rush, including forcing two fumbles, both forced by Steven Soles Jr., who Mark Stoops raved about on his call-in show Monday. The defensive unit is going to be leaned on again this season, but the offense will need to work out its kinks. Defense was a bright spot in the game as a whole, despite giving up two late touchdowns when they could have just continued to pull away late.

Kentucky's offense beat themselves a lot with mistakes

Kentucky ultimately was able to pull away for the victory, and despite the offense getting it going very late with a much-needed touchdown as the fourth quarter began, there are still some kinks to be worked out after the offense stalled for much of the game, but they seem very fixable and self-inflicted. After scoring within six minutes into the game, the Wildcats didn't score again until the beginning of the fourth quarter. The offensive issues were on display throughout the game. Some observations include dropped passes from receivers, sloppy special teams play, as well as Calzada over-throwing recievers at times, showing off his impressive arm strength. He did, though, however, show some impressive on-target throws that showed promise on the season. Calzada finished with just 85 passing yards, as well as throwing an interception.

Take it for what you will, but the tight end's were the bright spot in the passing game, as both of the starting tight end's ended with the most receiving yards on the team, with is very abnormal for Kentucky's offense. Kentucky didn't finish the game without an offensive highlight though, as running back Dante Dowdell exploded for a 79-yard touchdown run in the beginning of the fourth quarter, as the WIldcats then began to finally pull away.

The Wildcats should have plenty of time to get things going on offense, but Saturday was a rough game to watch for Kentucky fans, especially until the fourth quarter, despite the win, as the product looked very similar to last season with a struggling offense. Kentucky will have to tighten things up quickly with #21 Ole Miss coming to town next weekend.