For Kentucky, seven good things that would come with winning Belk Bowl
Across the years, college football’s stakeholders have done all they can to devalue bowl games.
Coaches, exemplified by Mike Norvell’s move to Florida State ahead of Memphis facing Penn State in this season’s Cotton Bowl, treat bowls as afterthoughts to their own career advancement.
Players with viable NFL aspirations, such as star Louisville offensive tackle Mekhi Becton with this year’s Music City Bowl, leave their teams to protect their future pro football earnings from the risk of injury.
Yet, for all that has been done to marginalize the bowls, their outcomes matter. They often shape the offseason narrative for college football programs.
When Kentucky (7-5) and Virginia Tech (8-4) face off in the 2019 Belk Bowl at Bank of America Stadium at high noon on New Year’s Eve, at least seven significant things will be riding on the outcome for the Wildcats.
1. Put Mark Stoops on a list with Bear Bryant.
Having defeated Penn State in last season’s VRBO Citrus Bowl, UK is gunning for a postseason victory in a second consecutive year.
In Kentucky football history, the only coaches to do that are Bear Bryant (Sugar Bowl after 1950 season, Cotton Bowl after 1951) and Rich Brooks (2006 and 2007 Music City Bowls, Liberty Bowl after 2008 season).
2. Get Stoops back to .500 as UK head coach.
Two games into his fourth season (2016) as Kentucky head coach, Stoops’ overall record at UK stood at 12-26.
If the Wildcats handle the Hokies, Stoops will end his seventh season with a 44-44 mark.
At Monday’s Belk Bowl Media Day, Stoops said getting back to .500 as Kentucky’s coach would be meaningful because it represents another step in program progress.
“I want to be at Kentucky a long time, I want to do really big things and good things,” Stoops said. “So I think each and every step, you try to continue to get better, to continue to build.”
3. End the season on a four-game win streak.
UK has not finished a season with as many as four straight wins since Fran Curci’s 10-1 team in 1977 won its final nine.
Having beaten Vanderbilt, Tennessee Martin and Louisville to conclude the 2019 regular season, Kentucky could finish with a fourth straight victory by besting Justin Fuente’s Hokies.
4. Beat an established football brand in a bowl game for a second straight season.
The 2018 Kentucky season ended with the Wildcats taking down Penn State, as “old money” a college football name as there is.
Against Virginia Tech, UK seeks to beat the program with the nation’s longest bowl streak at 27 consecutive seasons.
“It would mean everything,” Kentucky defensive tackle Calvin Taylor said of topping an established football program for a second straight year. “We’re still fighting for respect. That’s just another notch of respect.”
5. Get to eight wins in a season in back-to-back years.
Over the past four decades, Kentucky has reached eight wins in consecutive seasons exactly once. The Brooks-era Music City Bowl championship teams each finished 8-5 in 2006 and 2007,
For the current Cats, backing up last year’s 10-3 with an 8-5 finish — especially in a season in which UK endured substantial adversity — would be a badge of merit.
“We want to be the champions of this bowl,” Kentucky outside linebacker Josh Paschal said. “We are playing this like a championship. We want this eighth win because, when people look up ‘2019 Belk Bowl champions,’ we want them to see ‘University of Kentucky.’”
6. Send Lynn Bowden out a winner.
The Paul Hornung Award winner, Bowden saved the UK season with his stellar play at quarterback after injuries forced him to move to QB from wide receiver in the season’s sixth game.
Having already declared his intention to enter the 2020 NFL Draft, Bowden could have been one of those players sitting out the bowl season to protect his future value.
Instead, following in the footsteps of UK stars Josh Allen and Benny Snell who played in the Citrus Bowl last season, Bowden will finish what he started with his teammates.
“I can’t leave (the other UK players) out there hanging like that,” Bowden said. “If they are going to go into the fight, I’ve got to go into the fight with them.”
7. Keep the good times rolling.
Kentucky ended the 2019 regular season with a 45-13 beat down of archrival Louisville. That was followed by a UK early recruiting haul being lauded by national pundits.
A bowl win would continue the positive vibes around the Wildcats football program into the offseason with all that would mean for recruiting, ticket sales etc. …
“(Bowl wins) are very important,” Stoops said. “You are competing on a big stage. People are watching. Generally, it’s spread out across the country. Our players understand that.
“This is about the momentum. We’ve created some good momentum and we want to carry that through the offseason. This is a big piece of that.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 3:02 PM.
