By Murray Evans
The Associated Press

LEXINGTON - Scott Mayle's second career performance in as many football games gave Ohio one of the biggest wins in the program's history.

Mayle caught touchdown passes of 44 and 89 yards as Ohio posted a rare win over a major-conference opponent, beating Kentucky 28-16 on Saturday night.

Ohio (3-2) beat a major-conference team for the first time since 2000, when the Bobcats downed Minnesota. Ohio, a member of the Mid-American Conference, also beat Maryland in 1997, but otherwise hadn't defeated a major-conference foe since a 1973 win over Northwestern.

The Bobcats also snapped a 10-game road losing streak.

"It's a pretty big win against a (Southeastern Conference) team," Ohio quarterback Ryan Hawk said. "We didn't feel like it was an upset like some people might think."

Kentucky (1-3) hadn't lost to such a lightly regarded foe since 1994, when the Wildcats fell to Northeast Louisiana during a 1-10 season. Kentucky beat Ohio 35-14 last year.

This season, Kentucky scored 51 points in its lone win, over Indiana, but has managed only a combined 19 points in its other three games, which included losses at Louisville and Florida.

To make matters more embarrassing for the Wildcats, Ohio coach Brian Knorr said the Bobcats played without six defensive starters.

"There's no other way to put it: It was a very, very tough, ugly loss," Kentucky coach Rich Brooks said.

"This is about as bad as we can get. We need to start climbing out of the hole."

Ohio led 14-10 at halftime and forced five Kentucky turnovers in the second half, one as the Wildcats appeared poised to take the lead. Still trailing 14-10, Kentucky had reached the Ohio 10 early in the fourth quarter when linebacker Matt Muncy - last week's MAC East Division defensive player of the week - intercepted a pass from Shane Boyd.

Four plays later, Ohio quarterback Austen Everson threw a slant pass to Mayle, who broke a tackle and completed the 89-yard scoring play, the second-longest pass in Ohio history.

"Austen made a great throw, and nobody's going to catch No. 82," Knorr said.

Mayle finished with four catches for a career-high 157 yards, one week after he had five catches for 134 yards in a 34-0 win over Buffalo. Mayle's yardage total was the best by an Ohio receiver in 11 seasons.

Mayle also led Ohio in rushing, finishing with 52 yards on five carries, all on end-around plays.

With more than eight minutes remaining, Kentucky went for it on fourth-and-13 from its own 35 on its next series, and when Boyd's deep pass eluded the grasp of Scott Mitchell, Ohio had prime field position. Kalvin McRae scored on a 12-yard run to seal the win for the Bobcats.

"You really need good things to happen and when we forced turnovers, guys just kept believing and believing," Knorr said. "I was getting pretty nervous there at the end. That was the longest five minutes I've ever been associated with, but the defensive guys just came up with big play after big play."

Brooks had a different take.

"It was almost like we put a ribbon around (the game) and presented it to Ohio," Brooks said.

In the first quarter, Kentucky safety Muhammad Abdullah recovered a fumble by McRae on the Ohio 14, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Alexis Bwenge.

The Bobcats responded with touchdown drives of 80 and 63 yards. Hawk, the starting quarterback, pulled Ohio even at 7-7 with a 9-yard run, then hit Mayle in stride for a 44-yard scoring pass that silenced the Kentucky crowd.

Kentucky pulled within 14-10 by halftime on a 29-yard Taylor Begley field goal and left the Commonwealth Stadium field to a smattering of boos.