For a positive finish to a challenging year, UK needs to win Gator Bowl
It’s often difficult to determine the importance of a college football bowl game. After all, motivation matters. Some teams are happy to be there. Others aren’t. Some teams believe they have something to prove. Others would be just as happy to head to the offseason. Results can be misleading.
This year’s TaxSlayer Gator Bowl between Kentucky and North Carolina State is different, however. Never mind that some teams have opted out of the postseason altogether, or that bowl games themselves have been canceled — sorry for your luck Iowa and Missouri, all dressed up with no Music City Bowl to go to — or that in this year of the pandemic we should be happy if the game is actually played. Even given all that, the outcome Jan. 2 in Jacksonville matters.
At least it matters on the Kentucky side of the ledger. Mark Stoops’ club finished the regular season against an All-SEC schedule a disappointing 4-6. Most years, four SEC football wins in a season would be cause for celebration around these parts. Not this year, Stoops’ eighth in charge of the program. Not when the four victories came against teams with a combined 8-31 record — Mississippi State (3-7), Tennessee (3-7), South Carolina (2-8) and Vanderbilt (0-9).
The Cats could/should have finished 6-4. There was that 42-41 overtime loss at home to Ole Miss the second week of the season. A missed extra point in OT brought on that heartbreaker. There was that 20-10 loss at Missouri where, for some inexplicable reason, the Cats followed a historic 34-7 triumph at Tennessee (their first there since 1984) by showing up with a flat tire at Mizzou.
The season’s two most lopsided losses came against by far the two toughest teams on the schedule. From what we know now, that 63-3 shellacking at Alabama, followed by the 34-10 thumping at Florida, don’t look quite as horrific as they did at the time. The nation’s No. 1 team, Alabama is playing men against boys. And Florida gave the Tide a tussle in the SEC title game Dec. 19 before losing 52-46.
In other words, Kentucky football 2020 could use a good win over a good team. And North Carolina State is a good team. The Wolfpack is ranked 23rd by the CFP committee, 24th by the AP. State won its last four games to finish the regular season 8-3. Coach Dave Doeren’s Pack lost to a 5-5 Virginia Tech (45-24), a 7-3 North Carolina (48-21) and a 7-2 Miami (44-41). No bad losses there.
Still, as of Tuesday, Kentucky is a 2.5-point favorite. The SEC surely influences that spread. Had the Cats played their original schedule — remove Alabama and Ole Miss; reinsert Eastern Michigan, Kent State, Eastern Illinois and Louisville — and there’s reason to believe Kentucky would be heading to Jacksonville at 8-4.
Instead, they are two games under .500 and, thanks to this unusual season, playing in their fifth consecutive bowl game. They lost the first two, won the last two. That first defeat, in Stoops’ first bowl game as head coach, was also in the Gator Bowl. Georgia Tech won 33-18 that New Year’s Eve in 2016. It was a new experience. Since the 2020 invitation was bestowed Dec. 20, many a Wildcat has talked about completing their career circle with a Gator Bowl win, which would be the program’s third straight postseason victory.
There’s another motivational reason for Kentucky, as well. The Cats didn’t have to play in a bowl game this season. After what has been a trying 2020 season, to say the least, they could have easily voted no thanks to a COVID-restricted bowl experience in favor of a long-deserved break. Instead, they’ve gone all-in. No opt-outs for COVID-reasons. No opt-outs for NFL reasons. The Cats voted to play one more game, and a road game at that.
“I’m excited,” Stoops said Monday, “ because the team’s excited,”
If you’re going to be in it, you might as well win it. And to make this challenging year complete, Kentucky could use a win.
Gator Bowl
Kentucky vs. N.C. State
When: Noon Saturday
Where: TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
Records: UK 4-6; N.C. State 8-3
Series: Tied 1-1
Last meeting: UK won 27-2 on Oct. 31, 1970, in Lexington
TV: ESPN
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 3:03 PM.
