Storyline: UK’s win over Louisville was huge! Signature win? Check. At or above .500 in SEC play? Check. Bowl eligible? Check.
Rivalry Week in college football brought tons of excitement and upsets. And one of the biggest headlines this holiday weekend was Kentucky’s upset of #11 Louisville at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium in Louisville.
Kentucky’s Randall Cobb (18) celebrates the win over UL (photo, Lexington Herald-Leader)
The Wildcats rolled in as a 27-point underdog to a very good Cardinals team, a team that was in College Football Playoff talks just a few weeks ago. But UK’s 41-38 win over its hated archrival shows why you play the game.
The Cardinals certainly had their chance to squash the Wildcats’ upset bid. With about six minutes left and the game deadlocked at 38-38 Wildcat freshman running back Benny Snell, Jr. fumbled the ball at the Cardinal 45-yard line. Cardinal quarterback and Heisman frontrunner Lamar Jackson then led Louisville all the way down to the UK 9-yard line. The Cardinals had a first-and-goal with a little over two minutes remaining.
That’s when Jackson returned the favor by coughing up the pigskin. The ball squirted out of his and Kentucky’s Courtney Love had the ball at the bottom of the scrum. It was the Cardinals’ second Red Zone turnover in the fourth quarter. Jackson had thrown an end zone interception a few minutes prior.
Courtesy: UK Athletics
Wildcat QB Stephen Johnson then led the Wildcats to the UL 30-yard line. With 18 seconds left Coach Mark Stoops sent in kicker Austin MacGinnis for what proved to be the game-winning field goal.
In addition to leading the Cats on their winning drive, Johnson had a whale of a game, completing 16-of-27 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns and rushing for 83 yards.
It was a huge win for Stoops and UK.
Signature win? Check.
At or above .500 in SEC play? Check.
Bowl eligible? Check.
Mark Stoops hopes 2016 will be the beginning of big things for UK football.
This win could be a turning point for a UK program that has been mediocre for a very long time. The win sent the Governor’s Cup back to Lexington for the first time in six years, gave Kentucky its first road win over a Top 25 opponent since 2002, and secured its first seven-win season since 2009.
Kentucky beat Louisville on a day when the SEC East didn’t fare well against the ACC. Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina all lost (to Florida State, Georgia Tech, and Clemson, respectively). On this Saturday, at least, UK carried the banner for the conference.
And one of the most important dimensions of this win is that millions of fans watched the game on ESPN. That’s a boon for recruiting. Per Rivals.com the Wildcats have the 41st-ranked recruiting class for 2017. But winning on a stage like this–and gaining so much exposure–will likely help a program that has struggled in recent years to get highly ranked recruits.
Also helping enormously is how UK reversed directions on season that started poorly. Kentucky opened the season with two losses–to Southern Miss and at Florida–giving up a whopping 89 points in those games. The Wildcats were tied at the half with lowly New Mexico State in Game 3 before pulling away for the win.
Then the light switch went on. The Wildcats won six out of their next nine games, a stretch that included victories over South Carolina, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, and Louisville. That made 2016 different from the past two seasons when the UK went a combined 1-11 in the second half of the year and missed bowl games both seasons.
Courtesy: Wikipedia.com
In 2016 #FINISH has meaning for Kentucky football as the team finished the year 7-5.
With a young team–only 11 seniors graduate from this team–the future looks bright. Stephen Johnson, Benny Snell, Jr., Garret “Juice” Johnson, Dorian Baker, Jeff Badet, Austin MacGinnis, and All-SEC running back Stanley “Boom” Williams all return next season.
That’s important for UK football fans. As Mark Stoops said, “Our fan base deserves a football program it can be proud of.” Well, as a Wildcat fan, I agree!
