SEC football final: Florida 48, Kentucky 20
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Game day: Florida 48, Kentucky 20
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Florida football game at Gainesville, Florida.
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Two teams coming off tough losses meet Saturday night at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium when the Kentucky Wildcats take on the Florida Gators. The SEC football game is scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. The SEC Network has the television coverage.
Kentucky is 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the SEC for coach Mark Stoops after losing 20-13 at home to Vanderbilt last Saturday. Florida is 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the SEC for coach Billy Napier after losing 23-17 in overtime at No. 8 Tennessee last Saturday.
Kentucky has won three straight games in the series and is looking for its its third win at “The Swamp” in its last four visits. UK beat Florida at Florida 27-16 in 2018, lost 34-10 in 2020 and won 26-16 in 2022.
Jon Hale will be covering the game in Gainesville. I’m back in Lexington along with Mark Story. You can follow us on X/Twitter at @jonhale_hl, @johnclayiv and @markcstory.
You can follow a dedicated X/Twitter list for UK football by clicking here.
Pregame notes
▪ This will be the second start for Florida quarterback DJ Lagway. The true freshman replaces Graham Mertz, who tore his ACL in the Gators’ loss at Tennessee last week. He started UF’s 45-7 win over on Sept. 7 when he completed 18 of 25 passes for 456 yards and three touchdowns. On the season, Lagway has completed 47 of 72 passes for 765 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also rushed for 50 yards on 24 carries.
▪ Lagway and Mertz roomed on the road for the Gators.
▪ Florida wide receiver Chimere Dike has caught 19 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns. He also had punt returns of 30 and 27 yards at Tennessee, in addition to catching a 27-yard scoring pass from Lagway with 29 seconds remaining that tied the game at 17.
▪ Lagway’s TD pass to Dike came on a third-and-18.
▪ Dike and Mertz are transfers from Wisconsin, where they became best friends.
▪ Kentucky enters the game ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense at 251.5 yards per game.
▪ Here is how the last 10 Kentucky-Florida games have gone:
This story was originally published October 19, 2024 at 6:30 PM.
