Lynn Bowden works one last miracle, and Kash Daniel comes up big for Kentucky
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Game day: Kentucky defeats Virginia Tech in Belk Bowl
Click below to read all of the coverage from the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com after the University of Kentucky’s 37-30 victory over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl at Charlotte, N.C., on Tuesday.
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Instant analysis from Kentucky’s 37-30 win over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl:
How the game was won
Lynn Bowden hit Josh Ali with a 13-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds left in the game to cap an epic 18-play, 85-yard drive that won the Belk Bowl for Kentucky.
Who’s hot
1. Lynn Bowden. Simply put, the Kentucky star (223 yards rushing, two touchdowns; 73 yards passing and one of the epic TDs in school history) ensured he will forever be a Wildcats football legend.
2. The Kentucky offensive line. On the game-winning drive, Virginia Tech had eight, nine, even 10 men in the box — yet UK marched down the field on the ground.
3. Josh Ali. Who said Kentucky wide receivers couldn’t have a big impact catching the ball?
4. The Kentucky defense. On a day when UK’s “D” did not play to its 2019 standard, the Cats defenders gave the Wildcats offense a chance to pull it out by holding Virginia Tech out of the end zone in the fourth quarter.
5. Kash Daniel. At the end of a difficult senior year, the Paintsville product was UK’s leading tackler (eight).
6. Mark Stoops. Joined Bear Bryant and Rich Books as the only UK coaches to win bowls in back-to-back years. Evened his overall record as Kentucky head man at 44-44.
Who’s not
1. Virginia Tech trash talkers. Whoever came up with the apparent plan of trash talking Lynn Bowden throughout the week of Belk Bowl festivities probably should have thought that one through.
Key number(s)
Four and 42. Kentucky ended its 2019 football season on a four-game win streak. The last time a UK team did that was 42 years ago, when Fran Curci’s 1977 Wildcats won their final nine games en route to a 10-1 season.
Fashion police
For its postseason appearance, Kentucky wore silver chrome helmets over blue jerseys with white numbers and letters and blue pants. Since the start of the 2015 season, UK is now 3-1 in the uniform combination.
The ‘Cat-mosphere’
1. There were a series of pregame confrontations between the teams in warm-ups in which punches were thrown. It was a continuation of chippiness among the teams that apparently had begun during bowl-week activities.
2. After the pregame hostilities, the pregame coin toss — which saw all captains shake hands — might have been the most-photographed in college football bowl history.
3. Sofia Swade, 11, sang an evocative rendition of the national anthem.
4. The announced attendance for the 2019 Belk Bowl was 44,138.
This story was originally published December 31, 2019 at 3:44 PM.
