In search for third win ever over Alabama, UK football staff might have good luck charm
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Preview: Kentucky vs. No. 8 Alabama
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Alabama football game at noon at Kroger Field.
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The Alabama series has not been kind to Kentucky football.
In 41 meetings, Kentucky has beaten Alabama just twice and tied the Crimson Tide once. The best coach in UK football history is most known for his time at Alabama. Of Alabama’s 38 wins in the series, 16 have been shutouts of Kentucky.
But as Kentucky prepares to face the No. 8-ranked Crimson Tide this weekend, there is at least one positive piece of history working in its favor.
One of the stars of the Wildcats’ only win over Alabama since the Great Depression is now Kentucky’s defensive line coach.
“It was one of those things where, just do whatever you can to help win the game,” defensive line coach Anwar Stewart said of his role in UK football history.
With Kentucky trailing 31-27 with 6:54 left in regulation of UK’s 1997 upset of Alabama, David Ginn blocked an Alabama field goal. The ball bounced to Stewart, who returned it 68 yards for a touchdown and a 34-31 Kentucky lead. Alabama would eventually convert a field goal to send the game to overtime, but quarterback Tim Couch hit wide receiver Craig Yeast for a game-winning touchdown in overtime to send the Commonwealth Stadium crowd into a frenzy.
“I just did my job, caught that thing and ran it in,” Stewart said. “We want to repeat that on Saturday. I’ve been talking to the guys about leaving a legacy and the preparation that it takes to do something like that. The guys are locked in, ready to go.”
The Alabama team Kentucky beat in 1997 finished the season 4-7, making it one of just 11 Alabama teams in the program’s 120-year history to record a losing record.
The task at hand for the Wildcats this week looks much more difficult as Nick Saban’s powerhouse looks to stay in College Football Playoff contention and clinch an SEC West Division title.
“They’re not going to mess up, so we have to be really disciplined in our game and use a lot of our techniques that we’ve been coached because we’re a really well-coached football team.” freshman wide receiver Dane Key said. “We really just have to lock in and play like we know how to, be very disciplined.”
The 2023 meeting between Kentucky and Alabama comes 50 years after legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant returned to Lexington for the only game he coached at UK after leaving the program following the 1953 season.
Alabama won that game 28-14. It would play in Lexington twice more, both Alabama wins, before Stewart and the 1997 Wildcats secured the program’s first win over the Crimson Tide in 75 years.
Stewart has not shown the current Wildcats any clips of his big play against Alabama — “My time is up,” he said. “It’s all about them” — but he has not shied away from the fact that performing against a program like Alabama can change a player’s legacy.
If Kentucky is to pull off the upset Saturday, standout individual plays like the field goal block and subsequent Stewart touchdown will almost certainly be needed. Luckily, UK players do not have to look far for proof it is possible to find those plays against the Crimson Tide.
“I’ve petitioned the NCAA to see if we could have one more COVID year for (Stewart),” defensive coordinator Brad White joked. “If we can get one of those, that would be big.
“He’s excited every game. It doesn’t matter if it’s a scrimmage, if it’s game day, he always brings the energy. That was a big moment in this program’s history, for sure.”
Saturday
No. 8 Alabama at Kentucky
When: Noon
TV: ESPN
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Alabama 8-1 (6-0 SEC), Kentucky 6-3 (3-3)
Series: Alabama leads 38-2-1
Last meeting: Alabama won 63-3 on Nov. 21, 2020,
This story was originally published November 9, 2023 at 11:35 AM.
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