After a lackluster start, UK faces one of the hardest stretches in program history
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- Kentucky faces three consecutive top-15 opponents starting with No. 12 Georgia.
- The stretch mirrors historically tough schedules from 1958, 1970 and 2007 seasons.
- Wildcats enter October at 2-2, needing resilience amid outside criticism.
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Preview: Kentucky football at No. 12 Georgia
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Georgia game in Athens, Ga.
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One month cannot define a college football season.
For instance, a year ago Kentucky looked like a team on the upswing after a road upset of a top-10 Ole Miss team with a bye week and manageable stretch of schedule coming. Instead, the Wildcats lost six of their last seven games.
The opposite was true in 2016 when Kentucky was left for dead by the end of September thanks to a home loss to Southern Miss, embarrassing blowout defeat at Florida and closer-than-expected shutout win over New Mexico State. That UK team even lost its first game of October, a 34-6 blowout versus No. 1 Alabama, but rallied to reach the first bowl game of the Mark Stoops era.
The current Wildcats enter October with a .500 record (2-2) with eight games left to write their story.
But why has the mood of Big Blue Nation turned so quickly to despair following a 35-13 loss at South Carolina?
Certainly the performance in Columbia contributed to that sense of doom, but the bigger factor might be the upcoming schedule. Stoops and company appear set for one of the most difficult months in program history.
“We can’t look at it like that,” Stoops said after the South Carolina loss when asked about his message to the team with such a daunting stretch upcoming. “We don’t have the luxury of looking at the schedule and all that stuff. We have to look at it one week at a time.
“We had our opportunities in the past, and we had our opportunities through the years. And for us, it’s one week at a time.”
Kentucky returns to action Saturday at No. 12 Georgia, a team it has lost to 15 straight times. A bye week follows before UK hosts No. 9 Texas and No. 15 Tennessee in back-to-back games at Kroger Field.
If all four teams maintain or improve their rankings by the time Kentucky faces them, the stretch would be just the fourth time in program history the Wildcats would play three consecutive opponents ranked in the top 15. That has happened just one time since 1970.
In degree of difficulty, the upcoming stretch likely ranks behind the 1958 season when Kentucky played No. 9 Ole Miss, No. 1 Auburn and No. 9 LSU back to back to back, but it would be similar to the 1970 season when UK faced No. 13 Kansas State, No. 5 Ole Miss and No. 12 Auburn in consecutive games and the 2007 season when UK faced No. 11 South Carolina, No. 1 LSU and No. 14 Florida in three straight games.
The 1958 three-game stretch featured two road games. The 1970 and 2007 stretches included one road game each, like this season.
UK players appear to have gotten Stoops’ message, though.
“We’re going to be all right,” quarterback Cutter Boley said. “…The guys have unwavering confidence in this team, in the locker room, the coaches, everybody. I really do believe every dude in that locker room believes we’re going to put it all together and do something special.”
The upcoming stretch could have been even more daunting considering Auburn and Florida, the two teams Kentucky plays to open November, were ranked in the AP Top 25 earlier this season. South Carolina also opened the season in the Top 25. If Auburn somehow returns to the Top 25 by the time Kentucky travels there on Nov. 1, it would mark just the second time in program history UK has played four ranked opponents in a row.
If the Wildcats can weather the three-game stretch against Georgia, Texas and Tennessee, there do appear to be more opportunities for wins in the second half. Only one of UK’s last five opponents is currently ranked, and that team, Vanderbilt, might look very different by the Nov. 22 matchup after enduring its own four-game gauntlet against ranked teams.
“It’s never about the opponent,” running back Seth McGowan said. “Every time it’s gonna be about us, and it’s gonna come down to us and the style of play that we’re putting out there every snap.”
Kentucky’s performance in South Carolina certainly did not look like a team ready to upset any of the upcoming ranked foes. The Wildcats have done little so far to suggest they should be favored in any of the seven remaining games against Power Four competition.
These Wildcats can take heart in the fact that both the 2007 and 1970 squads actually did win one game from the stretch against three straight top-15 foes. The 2007 Wildcats started their three-game stretch ranked No. 8 nationally, but the 1970 Wildcats entered their three-game stretch at 0-1. Their upset of No. 13 Kansas State was one of just two wins all season.
Strange things can happen in college football, especially in an era of massive roster turnover.
“We got a chip on the shoulder,” McGowan said. “We don’t listen to the world. We don’t let the outside seep in. We are a proud group of guys, and we got a real brotherhood. We’re gonna keep everything within the circle and behind curtains, and we’re gonna keep grinding and being us.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 6:15 AM.
