UK football overcame much to have a good year — but Cats left money on the table
In the preseason, my prediction for the Kentucky Wildcats’ 2019 football record was 7-5.
That Mark Stoops and troops got to 7-5 after a season in which injuries depleted UK’s quarterback corps and the Cats wound up running the option with wide receiver Lynn Bowden playing QB was a coaching achievement.
Back in the summer, I identified seven goals for what was realistically possible for Kentucky football in 2019.
Overall, the Cats did well when measured against those parameters — but were agonizingly close to hitting them all.
Goal one: Beat an SEC West foe other than Mississippi State.
The background: Coming into 2019, UK was 0-6 under Mark Stoops against SEC West teams other than MSU, Kentucky’s permanent inter-division rival.
The verdict: Check. The Cats beat Arkansas 24-20 in Lexington in the first game Bowden started at QB after injuries sidelined Terry Wilson and Sawyer Smith.
The Razorbacks ended 2019 mired in a 19-game SEC losing streak. It would have been disastrous had UK not taken advantage of an opportunity to play at home what is currently the worst program in the Southeastern Conference.
Goal two: Preserve at least two of the three SEC East win streaks with which Kentucky entered 2019.
The background: UK had won five in a row over South Carolina, four in a row over Missouri and three straight over Vanderbilt coming into this season.
The verdict: Check. UK finally fell to South Carolina, 24-7, in Columbia in what was the Wildcats’ second straight SEC road game and the last contest before Bowden’s installation at QB.
Bowden went on to lead UK to its fifth straight victory over Missouri, 29-7, and fourth win in a row over Vandy, 38-14.
Goal three: Beat Louisville in Lexington for the first time since 2009.
The background: Before Saturday, UK was 0-4 vs. U of L in games played in Lexington this decade.
The verdict: Check. In last week’s regular-season finale, the Wildcats dominated the Cardinals along both lines of scrimmage and retained the Governor’s Cup with a 45-13 mauling.
Goal four: Beat Florida in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1976 and 1977.
The background: UK ended a 31-game losing streak vs. UF with a 27-16 victory over the Gators in Gainesville in 2018.
The verdict: Fail. The Cats took a 21-10 lead into the fourth quarter, but lost momentum after a failed fourth-and-1 run from the UF 38-yard line. Gators backup quarterback Kyle Trask then rallied Florida to a 29-21 win.
Goal five: Beat Tennessee in Lexington for a second straight time for the first time since 1957 and 1959
The background: Kentucky defeated Tennessee 29-26 at Kroger Field in 2017.
The verdict: Fail. As The Long Suffering UK Football Fans must see in their nightmares, Kentucky was down 17-13 when it ran two late plays from inside the Tennessee 2-yard line.
On third-and-goal from the 1, UT threw UK running back Christopher Rodriguez for a yard loss. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Volunteers’ linebacker Daniel Bituli stopped Bowden short of the goal line.
Kentucky lost in spite of holding Tennessee to 296 yards of total offense.
Goal six: Put together back-to-back winning seasons in SEC play for the first time since 1976 (5-1 with the aid of a forfeit victory) and 1977 (6-0).
The background: Kentucky went 5-3 in league games in 2018, its first winning conference record in 41 years.
The verdict: Fail. After the eminently winnable games with Florida and Tennessee got away, UK finished 3-5 in the SEC in 2019.
Goal seven: Follow up last year’s nine-win regular season with another winning year.
The background: The prior two times before 2018 when Kentucky reached nine wins in a regular season, it “slipped back” the following year.
UK went 9-3 during its Hall of Fame Bowl-winning season in 1984; the Cats finished 5-6 in 1985.
The Wildcats were 10-1 in 1977; they went 4-6-1 in 1978.
The verdict: Check. It’s hard to overstate how important it was for the Wildcats to back up last year’s 10-3 breakthrough by putting another winning season on the board in 2019.
By virtue of securing a winning record and a bowl trip in 2019, Kentucky avoided the immediate return to losing that drained momentum from the UK program the previous two times it had a chance to build on a nine-win season.
That’s why the 2019 Kentucky football season should be viewed as a big-picture success — even though the Cats “left some serious money on the table” by not closing the deal against Florida and Tennessee.
