The forgotten story behind one of UK football’s sweetest wins over U of L
Quick hitters from the Regis Philbin farewell:
21. “Stevie got loose.” Every Kentucky fan remembers the 57-yard touchdown pass that Steve Johnson caught from Andre Woodson with 28 seconds left to give UK a 40-34 win over No. 9 Louisville in 2007.
20. Eric Scott. For Kentucky’s starting center in 2007, it is the play that preceded that game-winning TD that he will never forget. The Georgia product was flagged for a 15-yard personal foul penalty that, fleetingly, appeared to have cost UK the game.
19. Defending a teammate. With UK down 34-33 in the final minute, Tony Dixon caught a 4-yard pass to put UK near field-goal range. In an apparent time-wasting gambit, Louisville cornerback Bobby Buchanan would not get up off of Dixon. So Scott pushed Buchanan to free Dixon.
18. An unusual flag. The personal foul called on Scott pushed the ball out of U of L territory to the Kentucky 43-yard line. “That was the only personal-foul penalty I got in my entire career — 22, 23 years of football,” Scott says.
17. Lightning struck. On the next play, Woodson hit a shockingly open Johnson streaking down the left sideline for the touchdown that ended a four-year UK losing streak to U of L.
16. Still gets “a hard time.” Now the police chief in Berea, Scott says he still takes a ribbing from his Kentucky teammates over his untimely penalty. “Andre (Woodson) and all those guys, they always give me a hard time about it,” Scott says. “(They say) ‘Scott almost lost us the game.’”
15. No penalty, no TD? Scott’s retort is that, because of the yardage lost on the penalty, Louisville changed its pass coverage in a way that benefited Kentucky. “We didn’t change our play, but the defense changed (after the penalty). That allowed Stevie to get open,” he says.
14. A Kidd coaching football at EKU? Back in the spring, Eastern Kentucky announced that former Madison Central wide receiver Kody Kidd had joined the staff of new Colonels Coach Walt Wells as an offensive quality control coach.
13. Family tradition. A 2019 graduate of John Carroll University, Kody Kidd is the grandson of iconic former EKU football coach Roy Kidd and the son of Keith Kidd, who worked in various front office positions in the NFL.
12. Seeing the OVC. In a recent interview, Kody Kidd said he was relishing the chance to visit OVC football stadiums that he had heard his grandfather speak of in stories. His goal in football, Kody said, was imitate his father’s career path and work in NFL management.
11. A different path. Subsequent to that interview, EKU’s Walt Wells reported that Kody Kidd resigned at Eastern to take a job in sports marketing.
10. Alternate family tradition. Marc Kidd, Kody’s uncle, is a Jim Host disciple and longtime sports marketing and digital media executive. “I think Kody decided to follow in a different part of his family’s tradition,” Wells says.
9. Matt Ballard. Congratulations to the ex-Union College and Morehead State head football coach, who will be one of four 2020 inductees into the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame.
8. Ten-for-10 at Kentucky Speedway. Now that the 10th Quaker State 400 is in the books, we are down to only 10 drivers who have run in every Cup Series race in Sparta: Clint Bowyer, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and Martin Truex Jr.
7. Trevor Gott. The San Francisco Giants relief pitcher is a Tates Creek High School alumnus and former Kentucky Wildcats baseball player.
6. Will Smith. The Los Angeles Dodgers catcher is a Kentucky Country Day High School alumnus and former Louisville Cardinals baseball player.
5. UK vs. U of L. If you were watching the ninth inning of Saturday’s Fox telecast of the Dodgers-Giants, you saw a memorable matchup between ex-Cat Gott and ex-Card Smith.
4. Advantage, U of L. With the Dodgers trailing 5-3 entering the ninth inning and Gott trying to save victory for the Giants, Smith took the former Kentucky pitcher deep to center for a home run.
3. Last laugh, UK. Gott proceeded to retire 2019 National League All-Star Max Muncy, 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts and 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger to preserve a 5-4 win for San Francisco.
2. Fake crowd noise. Not a fan of the inauthentic “cheering” nor the computer-generated “fans” Fox manufactured for its broadcast of Giants-Dodgers.
1. Evan White. If you haven’t seen it, make a point to check out the video tweeted out by the Seattle Mariners in which members of the ex-Kentucky first baseman’s family congratulate him for making his major-league debut last week.
By the time the video ends, your eyes will not be dry.
