Kentucky battled Auburn play for play throughout three quarters before the Tigers pulled away late for a 29-13 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday.
Wildcat quarterback Terry Wilson in his return passed for 239 yards and rushed for 42 yards in the loss.
Running back Kavosiey Smoke ran 35 yards untouched for an early UK touchdown to put the Wildcats up 7-0.
Akeem Hayes hauled in an eight-yard touchdown pass in the third period to pull the Wildcats to within 15-13. The two-point conversion pass failed.
Receiver Josh Ali had nine catches for 98 yards.
Auburn quarterback Bo Nix passed for 233 yards and three second-half scores, including a pair of touchdowns in the final period to help the Tigers avoid the upset.
Kentucky will host Ole Miss (0-1) next Saturday at Kroger Field. Kickoff is 4 p.m.
At Auburn, Ala.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
UK (0-1)…..7 0 6 0 – 13
AB (1-0)…..8 0 7 14 – 29
Scoring:
First Quarter
UK – Kovosiey Smoke, 35-yard run (Matt Ruffolo kick), 6:44
AB – D.J. Williams, 1-yard run (John Shenker pass from Grant Loy), 4:30
Second Quarter
No scoring
Third Quarter
AB – Seth Williams, 11-yard pass from Bo Nix (Anders Carlson kick), 5:42
UK – Akeem Hayes, 8-yard pass from Terry Wilson (pass failed), 1:00
Fourth Quarter
AB – Seth Williams, 4-yard pass from Bo Nix (Anders Carlson kick), 10:21
AB – Eli Stove, 21-yard pass from Bo Nix (Anders Carlson kick), 8:17
Next up: Kentucky (0-1) vs. Ole Miss (0-1), 4 p.m., Oct. 3