When Drew Barker went down on the first play of the game, the offense took on a brand new identity led by Stanley “Boom” Williams, and it surely needed to after struggling mightily over its last 6 quarters of football.

Williams, who came into Saturday’s game with a mere 165 yards on the ground, came up big for his team when they needed it most. With Barker out for the game and backup Stephen Johnson in at QB, many were unsure of how UK would respond, but that’s exactly what they did en route to the 62-42 victory.

However, Williams was able to ease the minds of the Big Blue Nation by exploding for a 63-yard touchdown run on the Cats’ third drive. The run tied the game at 7 after New Mexico State grabbed the lead on their first drive of the game.

With the Cats and Aggies trading blows throughout the first half, it was Williams who was able to pick up 131 yards on the ground averaging nearly 14 yards-per-carry in the first half.

To the delight of many, Williams was not alone in the ground attack as freshman Benny Snell Jr. emerged to rush for 137 yards on 17 carries and 4 touchdowns, which ties a school record set by four different UK running backs.

Williams and Snell were able to provide a potent 1-2 punch and each rushed for 100+ yards, which is the first time a pair of UK running backs have done so since Williams and Jojo Kemp did so last November against Charlotte.

“Very proud of (Snell), he came up big today, got in the end zone a lot, put some points on the board for us,” Williams said. “That should be able to help us a lot, and it was real good to see that rotation and to be able to see both of us be successful on the ground today.”

As a junior who has seen major time throughout his three years in Lexington, Williams proved to be instrumental in Snell’s successes Saturday although he was not on the field with him.

“Those guys (Williams and Kemp) are like big brothers to me and I listen to everything they have to say and moving forward, it just makes us more of a weapon to have us all,” Snell said.

It was crucial, especially in Saturday’s game, that Williams and company got going on the ground because of how difficult the past two weeks have been.

Not only was it important from a scoring/statistical standpoint, but rather from a leadership standpoint and to see Williams elevate his game in a time of need is something that the Cats desperately yearned for.

With the running game gaining ground for the first time all season, Williams and his performance Saturday night can and should be looked at as a turning point for this UK offense especially if Johnson and his dual-threat abilities remain at QB.

The emergence of the run game in a game like this is easy to overlook, but the Cats’ defense was finally able to catch their breaths because the offense was able to get more first downs Saturday, 28, then they had had in their first two games combined.

The run game helped to sustain drives, and if drives can be sustained, and UK can finish, then there will be a group of fresh defenders out there to do their part in helping the Cats’ 2016 campaign get back on track.