At end of trying season, UK bowl victory shows how Mark Stoops has changed the Cats
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Gator Bowl wrap-up: Kentucky 23, North Carolina State 21
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-North Carolina State Gator Bowl football game at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Fla.
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If there was ever a football game with the “oh no, here we go again” feeling hanging over it — that feeling that torments Kentucky fans — the 76th TaxSlayer Gator Bowl was it.
Given chance after chance to bury No. 24 North Carolina State in the first half, the Wildcats would not take them.
A last-minute UK touchdown pass that would have put the Cats up by three scores at halftime was nullified by an illegal formation penalty on the Wildcats.
Opening the smallest-possible two-possession lead late in the game, UK flung the door of victory back wide open for the Wolfpack by committing three major penalties to turbocharge a rapid N.C. State answering touchdown.
“There were a few critical plays where we had the chance, I won’t say to put the game away, but to take it to another level, make us feel a lot better,” Kentucky Coach Mark Stoops lamented afterward.
Yet off a script that has led to heartbreak all too many times in past decades for backers of the Big Blue, UK instead produced an ending that showed how Stoops has managed to change the culture of Wildcats football for the better.
Kentucky (5-6) defeated No. 24 North Carolina State (8-4) 23-21 Saturday at TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville to claim its third straight bowl victory.
The win in the Gator Bowl that follows the 2020 season goes with UK victories over Virginia Tech in the 2019 Belk Bowl and against Penn State in the Citrus Bowl that followed the 2018 season to give Kentucky postseason wins in three consecutive seasons for only the second time in school history.
Look, there’s no reason to have a parade over a 5-6 season. North Carolina State was playing without, arguably, its four best defenders due to an opt-out, two injuries and a targeting suspension.
Those disclaimers aside, what was on display in Jacksonville were some of the tangible positives Stoops has wrought in his eight seasons in Lexington.
Kentucky won because of its defense.
UK held a North Carolina State attack — the Wolfpack had all their weapons on the field on that side of the ball — that came into the game averaging over 31 points and 391 yards of offense a game largely in check.
The Cats did it behind a ball-hawking defense that intercepted three Bailey Hockman passes and another stellar individual showing by redshirt junior linebacker Jamin Davis (13 tackles, half a quarterback sack, the interception that led to the game-clinching touchdown).
Davis, who was snubbed for All-SEC recognition in spite of playing at that level, denied that he carried any extra motivation due to being overlooked.
“All season, I was already playing with a chip on my shoulder,” Davis said. “This wasn’t anything different.”
UK earned another bowl victory because its was the more physical team at the point of attack.
Even with North Carolina State appearing to have eight or even nine defenders in the box on many plays, Kentucky rushed for 281 yards in one final go around behind the current iteration of “The Big Blue Wall.”
With seniors Landon Young, Drake Jackson, Luke Fortner and NFL Draft-eligible, junior All-America Darian Kinnard leading the way, Kentucky controlled much of the game with its running attack.
“Our offensive line did a great job today,” said senior running back A.J. Rose, who took a star turn with 148 rushing yards on 12 carries. “They were moving people all around all day.”
Perhaps the most impressive thing Stoops has built in Lexington is that Kentucky’s players wanted to play in a bowl game in the first place.
After a season that saw the death of offensive line coach John Schlarman from cancer and the loss of linebacker Chris Oats to a debilitating medical condition that left him in a wheelchair not to mention that alterations in routine caused the COVID-19 pandemic, no team in the country had more reason to opt out of the postseason than UK.
For the third straight year, all the UK stars hoping to hear their names called in the next NFL Draft — except for cornerback Kelvin Joseph, a transfer from LSU — cared enough about the program they will be leaving to suit up and try to win a bowl game.
That feeling of player-investment in what Kentucky is trying to do is likely the most impressive thing Stoops has achieved as UK coach.
“It says a lot about our players,” Stoops said.
On the debit side, Kentucky’s lack of a passing attack and need for more dynamic playmaking were also on display. Fixing those factors is the reason Stoops is replacing his previous offensive brain trust with current Los Angeles Rams offensive assistant Liam Coen.
That’s for next season.
Saturday was about a Kentucky bowl win over a ranked foe, won “the Stoops way” — with defense, physicality and overcoming that dreaded “here we go again” feeling that has so tormented UK football backers.
All in all, those are not small things.
This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 5:45 PM.
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