The 2024 UK football start awakens echoes from one of Kentucky’s greatest seasons
Let’s review the preeminent storylines from the start of the Kentucky football season:
▪ The high expectations of UK fans for the Wildcats were soured by a shockingly poor Kentucky performance that led to a blowout loss in the season’s second game.
▪ The running back expected to carry the load for the UK offense was lost to injury.
▪ Led by a freakishly athletic giant anchoring its defensive front, the Wildcats show signs of being one of the nation’s best defenses.
▪ Shortly after the Week 2 debacle, UK electrifies its fans by going on the road to upset a top 10-rated foe.
In four parts, those are the narrative highlights of the start of the 2024 season for Mark Stoops and troops.
Yet, as you will see below, the same plot lines also apply to the start of the 1977 season — which launched Fran Curci’s Wildcats to a 10-1 campaign that still stands as one of the two best (11-1 in 1950) in Kentucky’s football history.
2024: The Wildcats were humiliated 31-6 in Week 2 by South Carolina.
1977: In their second game, the Cats were embarrassed 21-6 at Baylor.
2024: A broken hand suffered in preseason has sidelined Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum, who was expected to be Kentucky’s top running back.
1977: Curci’s Cats lost star running back Rod Stewart for the season due to an injury in the loss at Baylor.
2024: At 6-foot-6 and 345 pounds, tackle Deone Walker leads a UK defensive unit that is racing up the national charts.
With Walker consistently occupying numerous opposing blockers, Kentucky stands ninth in the FBS in total defense (allowing 244.2 yards a game), 14th in scoring defense (allowing 13.4 points a game) and 16th in red zone defense (four red zone stops in 13 attempts).
1977: A 6-7, 247-pound end, Art Still was on his way to recording a whopping 22 tackles for loss and earning SEC Defensive Player of the Year and unanimous First Team All-America status.
With Still essentially shutting off half the field, the 1977 Kentucky defense never allowed more than 21 points in a game and held nine of 11 opponents under 20 points.
2024: On Saturday, in its fifth game, Kentucky went on the road and shocked No. 6 Mississippi, winning 20-17 in Oxford.
1977: In their fourth game, the Wildcats traveled to State College, Pennsylvania, and stunned No. 4 Penn State 24-20. It was the only loss the Nittany Lions suffered en route to an 11-1 season.
Even with the similarities between the starts for the 2024 Cats (3-2, 1-2 SEC) and the 1977 Wildcats (4-1, 1-0 SEC through five games but en route to 10-1, 6-0), there remains ample work to be done for the current Kentucky football team to produce a season anywhere close to what was done 47 years ago by Still, quarterback Derrick Ramsey and Co.
To match the 10 wins that the 1977 Wildcats produced in the regular season, the 2024 Cats would have to win out. The odds of that are remote because the present Wildcats face a far more challenging league slate than did the 1977 team.
2024: Kentucky has already lost 13-12 to then-No. 1 Georgia and gone on the road to beat then-No. 6 Ole Miss. Still ahead are trips to No. 4 Tennessee and No. 2 Texas.
1977: UK played only one game versus a ranked SEC team — a 33-13 win at No. 16 LSU.
Given the degree of scheduling difficulty they face, if the current Cats can become only the 11th Kentucky football team all-time to win at least eight games in a regular season it would be a major accomplishment.
(One of those UK teams to reach eight regular-season wins, the 2021 Wildcats who finished 10-3 after winning nine regular-season games, subsequently vacated its victories due to NCAA rules violations by Kentucky.)
For UK to have a chance to reach eight victories, winning the impending three contests — vs. Vanderbilt (2-2, 0-1 SEC), at Florida (2-2, 1-1 SEC) and Auburn (2-3, 0-2 SEC) — is vital.
One way in which Stoops should hope the 2024 Cats continue to mimic the 1977 Wildcats is in the realm of defensive progression.
Led by all-time UK greats Still, Jerry Blanton and Dallas Owens, the 1977 Kentucky defense started its season strong — and then got better. In UK’s final seven contests of that season, opponents were held under double digits in scoring five times.
This year, Mississippi entered the Kentucky game leading the nation in total offense (670.8 yards a game) and first downs (130). After the UK “D” held the Rebels to 353 total yards and to 1-for-10 on third-down conversions, Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin gave the Cats’ defense a rave.
Speaking of Walker and then the Kentucky defense overall, Kiffin said, “That guy is a phenomenal, elite player. They’ve got big, long defensive players. They’ve brought in a Georgia ‘mike’ (middle linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson) that’s made a total difference for them as far as a mentality standpoint.”
Noting that Georgia’s offense “at times, couldn’t do anything against (the UK defense),” Kiffin added. “They are going to give people problems.”
If so, Kentucky football in 2024 would continue to exemplify “the spirit of 1977.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2024 at 3:03 PM.
