Texas A&M had not lost at home to an unranked opponent in 19 games. On Saturday, September 19, 2026, Kentucky ended that streak at Kyle Field, winning 31-21 in College Station in the Wildcats' first Southeastern Conference road game of the season.
The game turned in a single quarter. Kentucky put up 21 points in the third, and the Aggies never recovered the lead.
The numbers
Quarterback Kenny Minchey was close to flawless: 14 completions on 18 attempts for 252 yards. C.J. Baxter carried for 87 yards and two touchdowns, D.J. Miller caught five passes for 96 yards, and Kenny Darby turned two catches into 64 yards and a score.
The defense did the rest. Kentucky forced two interceptions — Sam Greene took one, Jordan Castell finished with 13 tackles — and stopped Texas A&M on fourth down. Aggies quarterback Marcell Reed threw 49 times and completed 26 of them, a volume that says how much of the second half his team spent chasing the game.
It is Kentucky's first win over a top-10 team since beating No. 6 Ole Miss in 2024, and it moves the Wildcats to 2-1, 1-1 in the conference. They host South Alabama next Saturday.
Charlotte, earlier in the day
The other ranked team to fall on Saturday was No. 25 Virginia, beaten 38-27 by West Virginia in the Duke's Mayo Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Virginia led 14-7 early. West Virginia answered with 14 unanswered points, went into halftime ahead 21-14 and controlled the rest. Quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. accounted for five touchdowns — three rushing, two passing — a career high, and the first time a West Virginia quarterback has managed at least three rushing and two passing scores in one game since Pat White in 2008.
West Virginia is 3-0. The program has not appeared in the AP Top 25 since December 2018, a drought that this result puts in play.
Reporting from NCAA.com, UK Athletics, ESPN and Sports Illustrated.
