NORMAN, Okla. — The 2026 Kentucky football season has become a thrill ride that just keeps picking up speed. There was the “perfect third quarter” in the Wildcats’ road win at No. 9 Texas A&M. There was Will Stein’s boldness in going for a two-point conversion that yielded an overtime win at South Carolina. There was Will Stein’s boldness in going for a two-point conversion that yielded an ...

Kentucky Wildcats defensive back Ty Bryant celebrates after intercepting an Oklahoma pass during a game at Gaylord Family Ð Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026.

Ryan C. Hermens/Lexington Herald-Leader/TNS

NORMAN, Okla. — The 2026 Kentucky football season has become a thrill ride that just keeps picking up speed.

There was the “perfect third quarter” in the Wildcats’ road win at No. 9 Texas A&M.

There was Will Stein’s boldness in going for a two-point conversion that yielded an overtime win at South Carolina.

There was Will Stein’s boldness in going for a two-point conversion that yielded an overtime win over No. 10 LSU.

Yet, for my money, the most impressive win to date in what is becoming the Big Blue Nation’s fantasy football season came Saturday night at the Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

In a game when a stout Oklahoma defense mostly controlled Stein’s normally artful offense, UK nevertheless found a way to win behind a late surge from the Wildcats’ somewhat-maligned defense.

With UK intercepting three passes in the final 15:35 of the game and limiting Oklahoma to 37 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter, the No. 15 Wildcats rallied from 13-7 down to take a 21-13 victory over Brent Venables’ Sooners before a sellout crowd of 83,218.

“This was about us tonight,” Stein said outside a joyous-sounding Kentucky locker room. “It was about our resolve, our resiliency, our perseverance. ... We found a way to win through our grit, through our toughness.”

What will follow is a sentence that The Long-Suffering Kentucky Football Fan has waited a lifetime to read: With the victory, UK (6-1, 4-1 SEC) moved into a first-place tie in the Southeastern Conference standings with Georgia (6-1, 4-1).

“Obviously, (leading the SEC) feels pretty good after a win like that on the road,” UK tight end Willie Rodriguez said. “But that’s what we expect, and we’re just going to keep going back to work.”

A Ty Bryant interception with 35 seconds left in the third quarter — caused by Mi’Quise Humprey-Grace hitting both John Mateer and the football as the Oklahoma quarterback tried to throw — set up what had been a struggling Kentucky offense with favorable field position at the OU 43-yard line.

The Cats needed seven plays to cash that in for the go-ahead touchdown. UK QB Kenny Minchey hit Rodriguez with a 12-yard pass down the seam, the second scoring connection between that duo in the game.

Staked to a lead, the UK defense brought the lumber.

Relentless pass-rush pressure from Humphrey-Grace, Tavion Gadson and Cedric Works discombobulated the Oklahoma offense down the stretch.

Humphrey-Grace finished the game with 1 1/2 sacks and three quarterback hits. Gadson and Works also each sacked Mateer 1 1/2 times.

Down 10-7 at halftime and fortunate to be that close, Humphrey-Grace said the Kentucky defense realized “we got to play harder. You know, I think we did that in the second half. We were relentless.”

Jordan Castell’s pick-six with 1:17 left to play, his second interception of the game, gave the Wildcats a 21-13 edge.

Bryant’s second pick of the game with 21 seconds left sealed the Kentucky victory.

Said Stein: “Really, our second-half creating takeaways on defense was huge, and it allowed us to come out victorious.”

What made Saturday’s Kentucky victory so impressive is that the Wildcats were on the road in one of college football’s most-storied venues. And UK prevailed over Oklahoma (3-3, 1-2 SEC) while playing a game more suited to the Sooners’ preferred playing style than to that of the Wildcats.

Said Stein: “That’s what great teams do: They find ways to win. They refuse to lose, and that’s what our guys did tonight.”

Turning to the SEC race, besides Kentucky and Georgia, Tennessee (6-1, 3-1) and Ole Miss (5-1, 3-1) are the only other conference teams with only one league loss.

Because UK will play UT head-to-head in Knoxville on Nov. 7, and Georgia and Ole Miss will meet in Oxford on the same date, the Wildcats control their own fate in terms of reaching the SEC Championship Game for the first time in school history.

Win out, and Kentucky can book its date to Atlanta.

With league games remaining with Vanderbilt, at UT, Florida and at Missouri, winning out will be a steep climb.

“I’m not really worried about where we’re ranked, what our record is,” Stein said. “It’s all about how can we improve? So (Oklahoma) was a big win on the road. Whenever you can win on the road in the SEC, it gives you a lot of confidence. And again, I just talk about our process and our ability to double down on what we’re doing for our players. So, not really worried about any standings. I know how quickly that can turn if you don’t take care of business the following week.”

Stein is right that a loss to Vanderbilt next week at Kroger Field would undo much of the magic of Kentucky’s 6-1 start.

Still, after an SEC road win just oozing with grit, earned by beating a college football blue blood at its own game, Kentucky has put itself — and the BBN — in position to dream and to dream big.

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