UK football’s 2025 season ends with an embarrassing blowout loss to Louisville
On Monday, Mark Stoops spoke like a coach locked in for a 14th season leading Kentucky.
Five days later, Stoops’ team posted the type of abysmal performance that made his job status look anything but secure.
Facing a Louisville team missing its top four scholarship running backs and its top receiver, Kentucky was shut out for the first time since 2022 in a 41-0 loss. The loss clinched a second straight losing season for Kentucky. The Wildcats finished the year with back-to-back blowout defeats against Vanderbilt and Louisville with bowl eligibility on the line.
Despite its injury crisis, Louisville rushed for 258 yards with freshman Braxton Jennings and redshirt freshman Shaun Boykins both topping 100 yards. Quarterback Miller Moss, who missed last week’s game with an injury, returned to complete 12 of 20 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Kentucky’s offense looked hapless for the second straight week, erasing all the positive momentum it had established in a three-game winning streak to start November.
UK quarterback Cutter Boley completed 14 of 27 passes for 107 yards and two interceptions and was sacked six times. With starting running back Seth McGowan limited due to injury, Kentucky rushed for just 40 yards.
Turning point
Neither offense looked capable of mounting much of a threat on the first two possessions, Louisville found the break it needed when it blocked Aidan Laros’ punt with 6:39 left in the first half. The ball was recovered at the Kentucky 29-yard line and returned 19 yards. Four plays later, Louisville converted a fourth-and-goal play from the 1-yard line when quarterback Miller Moss leaped over the pile to break the plane of the goal line.
Player of the game
Jennings, a former Ashland Blazer High School star, added his name to Governor’s Cup rivalry lore with 113 yards on 20 carries. Jennings was playing in only his fourth career game. He entered the day with just 17 career carries for 87 yards.
Key stat
After moving within one win of bowl eligibility with a three-game winning streak to open November, Kentucky was outscored 72-3 in the first three quarters of its losses to Vanderbilt and Louisville. Kentucky had only trailed by a game by 40 points four times in Stoops’ first 12 seasons but fell behind by 40 in each of the last two games.
This story was originally published November 29, 2025 at 3:23 PM.