The Will Stein era finally kicked off on Saturday when the Kentucky Wildcats welcomed the Youngstown State Penguins into Kroger Field. There was a lot of new to the football program for fans to get their first look at and that goes for quarterback Kenny Minchey, too.

Minchey is coming in from Notre Dame where he spent two seasons, but his first game as a Wildcat was also his first-ever game as a starter in college football. The former four-star QB out of high school had a very efficient game, throwing for 301 yards on 18-27 throwing. He started the game perfect on the first drive, 5-5 passing, and ended the game with four touchdowns through the air.

Overall, it was a pretty complete game from Kentucky’s quarterback. How did head coach Will Stein think his guy faired in his first college start?

“I thought Kenny played well,” Stein said after Saturday’s game. “I thought the majority of the game he managed extremely well. We have a lot of checks and kills built in. He was able to elude some rushers on some naked’s. I think for his first start, I was very pleased with his performance. Right, 18 of 27 (passing), 304 yards, four touchdowns. So definitely things to improved on, but for the most part, happy with how he played.”

Heading into the game, it had to be nerve-wracking for Minchey who was about to start his first college football game at a new school with a new coach. Stein talked last week about what his message was to QB1 heading into Saturday’s game.

“There’s going to be butterflies. If you don’t, then you’re probably not human. So that’s okay. The key is taking all fear out of it. Like, don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t be afraid to go play. Like, we have prepped a lot. We walk through all the time, starting in winter and spring and summer, and then now, tons of practice opportunities, and he’s done it in practice. So that’s what he needs to do is just go out there and just take the easy money and run the show, run the offense.”

With one game under his belt, a good amount of those jitters will go away, but a big test stands in he and Kentucky’s way next week with Alabama coming to town.

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