Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s thrilling win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl
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Citrus Bowl game day: Kentucky 20, Iowa 17
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s VRBO Citrus Bowl between Kentucky and Iowa at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s 20-17 win over the Iowa Hawkeyes in the VRBO Citrus Bowl on Saturday:
1. It’s about players, not plays
It’s all about the players, yes, but sometimes you need a play to get the ball to a player. Wan’Dale Robinson was the player. Liam Coen had the play. Coen is Kentucky’s first-year offensive coordinator, and the play that resulted in a 52-yard pass from quarterback Will Levis to Robinson with just under two minute remaining — the Cats trailing 17-13 — was a play he had called only a few times all season, and not once in this Citrus Bowl game.
But on second-and-2 from the UK 47, Coen called a “sail” concept for Robinson and maximum protection for Levis. “We had trouble protecting Will all game,” Coen said later. “But that play, everybody did a great job giving him time to wait on the throw.”
For all his big-play ability and toughness — just four plays before Robinson had his bell rung on a bang-bang catch over the middle for a 17-yard gain on a third-and-10 — the former Western Hills star has developed into an expert route-runner. He ran this route to perfection, finding the open spot in the Iowa pass coverage at the 33-yard line for the completion.
Then in a combination of elusiveness, speed, will and flat-out heart, Robinson did the the rest, carrying the ball all the way to the Iowa 1-yard line with 1:54 left to set up the game-winning score. A false start penalty later, Chris Rodriguez broke a tackle in the backfield and found the end zone on a 6-yard run to put the Cats in front. And when UK linebacker DeAndre Square, playing hurt, intercepted an Iowa pass with 48 seconds left, Kentucky had its fourth straight bowl victory.
Robinson went 0-2 against Iowa during his two years at Nebraska. He said he owed the Hawkeyes. After coming home to play at Kentucky, he set the program’s single-season receiving record. And with fellow wide receivers Josh Ali and Isaiah Epps unable to play Saturday, Robinson got even more attention from the Iowa secondary than he would have received before. And it didn’t matter.
Robinson finished with 10 catches for 170 yards. And 76 of those yards came on that game-winning drive.
“We knew he was a really good player when we played him before,” said Kirk Ferentz, the Iowa coach. “He’s even better now.”
2. This had to be a satisfying victory for Mark Stoops
The Kentucky coach doesn’t like to rank victories, but this one had to instill a special sense of pride. Iowa is his alma mater. Iowa is a good football team. The Hawkeyes were 10-3, winners of the Big Ten West Division. They boasted a defense ranked 15th nationally total defense, one that sacked Levis six times Saturday and forced the Cats to settle for a pair of first-half field goals when inside the end zone.
And, oh yeah, there was this little thing where through a combination of injuries, COVID and contact tracing, Kentucky was down five starters Saturday — defensive lineman Josh Paschal, outside linebacker J.J. Weaver, offensive tackle Dare Rosenthal, wide receivers Josh Ali and Isaiah Epps. Also missing were linebacker Trevin Wallace and running back Kavosiey Smoke. And don’t forget UK lost starting offensive guard Eli Cox late in the year.
Though Stoops has done a terrific job building depth in a program where depth has always been an issue, the personnel losses appeared to be catching up with the Cats in the second half. On offense, Kentucky’s first four possessions of the final two quarters ended in three punts and a failed fourth-and-1. On defense, UK appeared to be sucking wind after allowing back-to-back Iowa touchdown drives.
“We knew there were going to have to be some battlefield promotions,” defensive coordinator Brad White said. “I’m just so proud of these guys who stepped up.”
The biggest stop came on a third-and-1 with under four minutes remaining when UK tackled Iowa running back Gavin Williams for no gain. After failing to draw the Cats offsides, Iowa punted on its second consecutive three-and-out. That gave UK the ball with 3:31 left.
“The defense gave us another chance,” Levis said.
And Kentucky took advantage of it.
3. Yes, culture does matter
“We’re used to this,” Stoops said after the win. “We’ve played in a lot of games like this.”
Take the 2019 Citrus Bowl, for instance, when Kentucky picked up a couple of crucial first downs to run out the clock in the 27-24 win over Penn State. Take the Belk Bowl at the end of the 2019 season when Kentucky methodically marched the length of the field to score the game-winning touchdown in a 37-30 victory over Virginia Tech.
“A standard has been set here,” a raspy Levis said after the game.
Even if you know the math, the numbers are worth repeating. Kentucky has now accomplished two 10-win seasons in the last four. Those are the only two 10-win seasons for Kentucky since 1977. These Cats won five SEC games, finished second in the SEC East and beat a team ranked 15th for their fourth consecutive bowl game.
That all goes back to the culture that Stoops has built, one of a football program that just not believes it can win, but expects to win. Now add what the experts say is Kentucky’s best recruiting class since Stoops arrived in 2013.
“There were a lot of guys before us, that (DeAndre) Square has played with, who built the foundation,” Levis said. “We’ve got a great class coming in. We’ve got to make sure they come in with a positive attitude and want to be part of a bigger step, a New Year’s (Six) bowl game, a College Football Playoff, an SEC championship.”
This story was originally published January 1, 2022 at 6:33 PM.
