First Scouting Report: Kentucky’s bowl prospects
An early look at Kentucky’s bowl prospects:
The projections
Going into UK’s season finale with Louisville, most (but not all) bowl projections had the Wildcats slotted into locales familiar to Kentucky fans:
1. Both ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach have Kentucky playing in the Music City Bowl, albeit against different opponents. Bonagura projects a UK-Pittsburgh matchup in Nashville, while Schlabach foresees a Kentucky-Miami pairing.
The latter projection would have UK going against former Wildcats quarterback recruiting commit Jarren Williams, now the Hurricanes’ starting QB.
Kickoff time for the Music City Bowl would be 4 p.m. on Dec. 30.
2. USA Today’s Erick Smith predicts Kentucky will travel to Memphis to face the Texas Longhorns in the Liberty Bowl.
The Liberty Bowl will kick off at 3:45 p.m (EST) on New Year’s Eve.
3. Jerry Palm of CBSSports.com also sees Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl, but facing the Iowa State Cyclones.
4. Steven Lassan of Athlon Sports predicted UK in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte against Virginia Tech. Kickoff would be noon on New Year’s Eve.
5. Brad Crawford of 24/7 Sports also had Kentucky in the Liberty Bowl against Iowa State.
Most recent bowl
Kentucky star running back Benny Snell ran for 144 yards and two touchdowns and star pass rusher Josh Allen had three quarterback sacks and blocked a field goal to lead the No. 14 Wildcats (10-3) over No. 12 Penn State (9-4) 27-24 in the VRBO Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 1, 2019.
It was UK’s first victory in a New Year’s Day bowl since the 1952 Cotton Bowl; its first win ever in a bowl in the state of Florida; and gave the Wildcats their first 10-win season since 1977.
Bowl history
UK is 9-9 all-time in bowl games. Last year’s Citrus Bowl victory snapped a four-game bowl losing streak for Kentucky.
Under Mark Stoops, the Wildcats are 1-2 in bowl games. Before beating Penn State last season, Kentucky lost to Northwestern 24-23 in the 2017 Music City Bowl in Nashville and fell to Georgia Tech 33-18 in the 2016 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., under Stoops.
This year will be only the second time in UK football history that the Wildcats have played in four straight bowl games. From 2006-10, Kentucky made the postseason in five consecutive seasons, the first four under Rich Brooks, the latter under Joker Phillips.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 3:05 PM.
