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Baxter, Patterson and Barnes rush for 100 yards, Kentucky rolls over South Alabama 45-21

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Mcclain, S. (2026, September 26). Baxter, Patterson and Barnes rush for 100 yards, Kentucky rolls over South Alabama 45-21. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/baxter-patterson-and-barnes-rush-for-100-yards-kentucky-rolls-over-south-alabama-45-21/article_fbae9da5-6f3a-577f-bd92-8a0bc1bef72a.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-26 · by Steve Mcclain

Quick Summary

In a dominant performance, CJ Baxter, Jason Patterson, and Jovantae Barnes each ran for over 100 yards as Kentucky defeated South Alabama 45-21 on Saturday. The trio combined for 386 rushing yards and five touchdowns, marking the first time since 2020 that Kentucky had three 100-yard rushers in a single game. Despite a strong start by South Alabama, Kentucky's second-half surge secured their victory, though coach Will Stein emphasized areas needing improvement as they head into SEC play.
Written by AI on 2026-09-26, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In a recent college football game on Saturday, Kentucky dominated South Alabama with a final score of 45-21. CJ Baxter, Jason Patterson, and Jovantae Barnes led Kentucky's rushing attack, combining for 386 yards and five touchdowns. This was the first time since 2020 that Kentucky had three 100-yard rushers in a single game. Despite turnovers and an ejection of linebacker Elijah "Bo" Barnes, Kentucky coach Will Stein praised his team's performance, noting Patterson's improvement and Baxter's health. South Alabama's quarterback Jared Hollins threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns but couldn't overcome the Wildcats' defensive and offensive prowess. The win improves Kentucky's record to 3-1, while South Alabama falls to 2-2.

Written for “South Alabama Kentucky Football Game” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 South Alabama Kentucky Football Game
Sports · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 26 claims Outlet record 66/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
26
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 26 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 11445 article(s) · 28 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 28 correction(s)
2026-10-26
Correction
2026-10-24
Correction
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Steve Mcclain
2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 And Jason Patterson just continues to get better and CJ is just healthy,” Kentucky coach Will Stein said.
Also by Steve Mcclain
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Jaguars Kentucky LEXINGTON South Alabama Wildcats

Subjects

Kentucky GPE · 8× Patterson PERSON · 3× South Alabama GPE · 3× Baxter PERSON · 2× Jaguars ORG · 2× Jared Hollins PERSON · 2× Jason Patterson PERSON · 2× Jovantae Barnes PERSON · 2× Stein PERSON · 2× Wildcats ORG · 2×

Narrative

Kentucky turned the ball over on downs twice, had a muffed punt, and linebacker Elijah ‘Bo’ Barnes was ejected for targeting on a hit on Hollins all in the first half. Up Next South Alabama: Home against Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday to open Sun Belt Conference play. Kentucky: At South Carolina next Saturday.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-26
🔮 And Jason Patterson just continues to get better and CJ is just healthy,” Kentucky coach Will Stein said.

Claims (26 extracted, 0 hedged)

CJ Baxter, Jason Patterson and Jovantae Barnes combined for 386 rushing yards and five touchdowns to power Kentucky to a 45-21 win over South Alabama on Saturday. asserted
Baxter → combine → Saturday
Baxter ran for 149 yards and the opening touchdown of the game. asserted
Baxter → run → game
Patterson added 137 yards and three touchdowns, the first tying a 75-yard burst to tie the game at 21, and Jovantae Barnes had 100 yards and a score that tied the game at 14. asserted
that → add → 14
It is the first time Kentucky (3-1) had three 100-yard rushers in a game since 2020. asserted
Kentucky → have → 2020
“We had three backs over 100 yards, which is very positive. asserted
which → have → yards
It was good to see Jovantae out there, getting his feet wet and then find the end zone after a long time not being in there. asserted
feet → see → time
And Jason Patterson just continues to get better and CJ is just healthy,” Kentucky coach Will Stein said. asserted
Stein → continue → ?
“We like to rotate those guys. asserted
We → like → guys
It’s a very violent position and it’s great to have guys who can go out there and run.” asserted
who → ’ → guys
Jared Hollins threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns for South Alabama (2-2) in place of Bishop Davenport who has missed the last two games with an unspecified injury. asserted
who → throw → injury
His 36-yard toss to Anthony Eager put the Jaguars up 14-7 and Jeremiah Jones-Thomas, who had 6 catches for 91 yards, had a 19-yard scoring catch for a 21-14 lead. asserted
who → put → lead
Patterson’s long TD on Kentucky’s next snap tied the game 1:22 before halftime and then Grant Godrey intercepted Jared Hollins on the next Jaguar snap. asserted
Godrey → tie → snap
Adam Zouagui kicked a 34-yard field goal at 16 seconds for a 24-21 lead. asserted
Zouagui → kick → lead
Patterson had touchdown runs of 15- and 2-yards in the second half before Kenny Minchey threw a 15-yard scoring pass to Shane Car to close out the scoring. asserted
Minchey → have → scoring
Stein said the Wildcats have a lot to clean up heading into the meat of Southeastern Conference play. asserted
Wildcats → say → play
“If you think for one second that is the way to play football here in Kentucky, then it’s going to be a long season ahead,” he said. asserted
he → think → Kentucky
“So the message will get sent to the guys loud and clear. asserted
message → send → guys
If you do not show up on any given Saturday, you will get beat.” asserted
you → show → Saturday
Baxter said Stein’s message was clear at halftime to move on to the second half. asserted
message → say → half
“He does a great job of getting us all on the same page at halftime. asserted
us → do → halftime
Let’s go out back out there, and this is about how we finish asserted
we → let → ?
,” he said. asserted
he → say → ?
The Jaguars came into the game second in the country in time of possession at 36:46 per game and converting more than 50% of their third down attempts. asserted
Jaguars → come → attempts
That script flipped Saturday as they only had the ball 28:19 and went 4 of 15 on third down. asserted
they → flip → down
The Wildcats clearly had a hangover from last week’s 31-21 upset over then-No. 9 Texas A&M. asserted
Wildcats → have → A&M.
Kentucky turned the ball over on downs twice, had a muffed punt, and linebacker Elijah ‘Bo’ Barnes was ejected for targeting on a hit on Hollins all in the first half. Up Next South Alabama: Home against Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday to open Sun Belt Conference play. Kentucky: At South Carolina next Saturday. asserted
Barnes → turn → Carolina
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