‘Finally.’ Kentucky defensive star breaks two school records in one day.

There was a bit of waxing poetic by Kentucky seniors after their final game at Kroger Field on Saturday.

“I know a chapter has to end, so I know this is getting to the last page of my chapter,” senior Josh Allen said after UK’s 34-23 victory over Middle Tennessee.

Allen wasn’t going to turn the page until he’d rewritten plenty of history, though.

In his final home game, the outside linebacker waited patiently to get the one quarterback sack he needed to break the career record set in 1989 by Oliver Barnett.

“Finally,” Allen remembered thinking of what turned out to be a key sack in a close fourth quarter. “I’ve got that burden off my shoulders and I can play now.”

On his second sack of the night a few minutes later — his 13th of the season — Allen grabbed the single-season record from Dennis Johnson, who set that mark in 2001.

Allen, who also happened to get a career-best 15 tackles in the victory, now has 27.5 career sacks with a game at Louisville and a bowl game to go.

After the victory, Allen thanked his secondary and his defensive line for helping him make those big plays his entire career.

His teammates were thankful for Allen.

“To see him break that record was unbelievable,” linebacker Kash Daniel said. “I was blessed to be a part of it. That’s something I’ll never forget.”

Mark Stoops has coached some of the top defensive players in the country in his various stops. But Allen might be better than any of those stars.

“Just the way he impacts the game being a big guy, he’s really remarkable,” Stoops said of Allen. “And he’s so unselfish.”

Kentucky played it patient and safe against Middle Tennessee and its veteran quarterback, picking key times to go after Brent Stockstill. Some other players so close to a record might have whined or complained or been impatient about it.

Not Allen.

“It was even aggravating to me. I was like, ‘Hey, let’s get Josh going here,’” Stoops said. “But he’s just, he doesn’t even think about it. If he gets, when he gets his opportunities, he’s going to go. And he wanted the record, but not at the expense of our defense.”

Allen came into the game with a Southeastern Conference-best 11 sacks this season. The senior linebacker had two sacks each against Vanderbilt and Missouri, but didn’t get one versus Georgia.

He was one sack away with a lot of time to play at Tennessee a week ago, but it never came.

It is a bittersweet moment for Barnett, who talked about it last week with the Herald-Leader. His son Elijah is on the team and a friend of Allen.

“I go back and forth. I want him to get it, but I also kind of like people saying, ‘Hey, you’re the record holder,’” the 52-year-old laughed.

While Allen has been in hot pursuit of the sacks record this season, he’s also edging closer to setting a new one in tackles for loss. He has 37 after Saturday’s win, which ties him with Bud Dupree, Vincent Burns and Marlon McCree at the top of that record column.

This story was originally published November 17, 2018 at 2:42 PM with the headline "‘Finally.’ Kentucky defensive star breaks two school records in one day.."