2019 Game Notes
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2019 GAME NOTES SATURDAY, SEPT. 21 • 4 PM ET • SEC NETWORK STARKVILLE, MISS. • DAVIS WADE STADIUM (61,337) vs. FIRST ROAD TRIP TAKES KENTUCKY TO COWBELL COUNTRY Kentucky hits the road for the first time this season, traveling to Mississippi State on Saturday look- KENTUCKY WILDCATS ing to get back on track. The game is set for a 4 p.m. ET kickoff and will air on the SEC Network. (2-1, 0-1 SEC) The Wildcats are coming off a tough loss to No. 9 Florida, leading for much of the game before the Gators mounted a fourth quarter rally and survived after UK missed a potential game-winning 8/31 TOLEDO [SECN] W, 38-24 field goal in the final minute. The defeat ending a five-game winning streak for UK. 9/7 E. MICHIGAN [SECNA] W, 38-17 The trip to Starkville will be headlined by quarterback Sawyer Smith, who was mostly excellent in 9/14 #9/8 FLORIDA* [ESPN] L, 21-29 9/21 at Mississippi State*[SECN] 4 p.m. his first start for the Cats last weekend, throwing for 267 yards and two touchdowns while routinely 9/28 at South Carolina* [SECN] 7:30 p.m. making strong throws to his stable of receivers. The Cats also continue to run the ball effectively 10/12 ARKANSAS* TBA behind a veteran, talented offensive line. 10/19 at Georgia* TBA A defense looking for new stars to emerge after the departure of Josh Allen and the entire sec- 10/26 MISSOURI* TBA ondary has been solid as it incorporates a youth movement. The front seven has been very good 11/9 TENNESSEE* TBA against the run and kept Florida’s speed in check despite a long scoring run in the closing seconds. 11/16 at Vanderbilt* TBA 11/23 TENNESSEE MARTIN TBA 11/30 LOUISVILLE TBA GAME CENTER - #BRINGIT KENTUCKY WILDCATS MISS, STATE BULLDOGS All times ET; *SEC game; Home games in bold Record: 2-1 (0-1 SEC) Record: 2-1 (0-0 SEC) Ranking: AP - NR; Coaches - RV Ranking: AP - RV; Coaches - RV MISS. STATE BULLDOGS Coach: Mark Stoops (Iowa, ‘89) Coach: Joe Moorhead (Fordham, ‘96) Record: 48-15 (6th season) (2-1, 0-0 SEC) Record: 38-40 (7th season) at UK: same at MSU: 10-6 (2nd season) 8/31 at Louisiana W, 38-28 vs. MSU: 2-4 vs. UK: 0-1 9/7 SOUTHERN MISS W, 38-15 Last Game: L, 21-29, vs. Florida (9/14/19) Last Game: L, 24-31, vs. Kansas St. (9/14/19) 9/14 KANSAS STATE L, 24-31 Last Meeting: UK won, 28-7, in Lexington on 9/21 KENTUCKY* 4 p.m. Series: Series tied 23-23 9/22/18 9/28 at Auburn* TBA 10/12 at Tennessee* TBA 10/19 LSU* TBA QUICK NOTES 10/26 at Texas A&M* TBA • Kentucky is 2-1 on the season and 0-1 in SEC play, dispatching of a pair of Mid-American 11/2 at Arkansas* TBA Conference foes that included Western Division preseason favorite Toledo, as well as Eastern 11/16 ALABAMA* TBA Michigan, before falling to No. 9 Florida last Saturday. 11/23 ABILENE CHRISTIAN TBA • The Cats now are 12-4 over their past 16 games. The .750 winning percentage is the fifth-best in 11/28 OLE MISS* TBA the SEC since the start of the 2018 season, behind Alabama, Georgia, Florida and LSU. • This is coach Mark Stoops’ seventh season in Lexington and the Wildcats have either matched or exceeded the previous season’s win total in each of the past six seasons, making them the only All times ET; *SEC game; Home games in bold program in FBS to accomplish that feat. • Stoops’ “recruit and develop” mentality culminated in 2018 with a 10-3 record, UK’s best season in 41 years and only the third 10-win season in school history. • UK’s 5-3 SEC record also was the team’s first winning league mark since 1977. The Cats fi nished ABOUT THE GAME second in the SEC Eastern Division. TV • SEC NETWORK • UK has posted winning records in away games (3-2; does not include neutral sites) each of the last two seasons, the fi rst me that has been accomplished since 1952 and ‘53. Play-by-Play Taylor Zarzour • UK has allowed 24 points or less in 15 of its last 17 games. That is the best such stretch since Analyst Matt Stinchcomb October 14, 1978 to Sept. 6, 1980. UK allowed 24 points or less in 18 of 19 games in that stretch. Sideline Alyssa Lang • UK has scored at least 38 points in a game in every season since 1997. • UK has made 124 consecu ve extra points, the eighth-longest ac ve streak in the na on. RADIO • UK SPORTS NETWORK • UK scored 38 points in each of the fi rst two games, fi rst me that has happened since 2007. Play-by-Play Tom Leach • The UK off ense already has delivered four scoring drives of at least 90 yards this season. UK has Analyst Jeff Piecoro already matched the team total of four 90+ yard scoring drives from last season. Sideline Dick Gabriel • WR Lynn Bowden Jr. reached 1,000 career receiving yards in the season opener and 100 career recep ons last Saturday vs. Florida. SATELLITE RADIO • Bowden currently ranks second in the SEC with 6.7 catches per game. Channel 192 - XM Channel 106 Sirius • Junior punter Max Duff y has been sensa onal, leading FBS in pun ng at 51.2 yards per kick. • What produc on returns for the 2019 season? Forty-one le erwinners are back, including 10 INTERNET RADIO • www.UKathletics.com starters: Logan Stenberg (LG), Drake Jackson (C), Lynn Bowden Jr. (WR), Terry Wilson (QB), Calvin Live Audio - free; Live Stats Taylor Jr. (DE), Quinton Bohanna (NG), Jamar “Boogie Watson (SLB), Kash Daniel (MLB), Blake Best (SNAP) and Max Duff y (P). The Cats also welcome the return of junior off ensive tackle Landon TICKETS • UKathletics.com Young who missed the 2018 season with a knee injury and sophomore defensive end Joshua Paschal who has been ba ling melanoma and only saw limited ac on in the fi nal three games last HASHTAG • #BRINGIT season. Young played in all 13 games as a sophomore, star ng in six at le tackle. • In addi on, 20 redshirt freshmen, 18 true freshmen, three junior college transfers and a transfer from Florida State are primed and ready to make their mark in 2019. 2019 FOOTBALL GAME NOTES 1 2019 GAME NOTES • Junior transfer quarterback Sawyer Smith made his first start for UK vs. Florida after transferring SEC STANDINGS from Troy over the summer as a graduate transfer. He passed for 267 yards and two scores. EASTERN DIVISION • Smith entered the Eastern Michigan game for an injured Terry Wilson in the third quarter and Team SEC Pct. All Pct. connected with Ahmad Wagner for a 54-yard scoring strike on his first pass attempt as a Wildcat. • Wagner ranks 21st nationally in yards per catch at 22.0 per reception. Georgia 1-0 1.000 3-0 1.000 • Senior defensive lineman T.J. Carter was flagged for targeting in the second half of the Florida Florida 1-0 1.000 3-0 1.000 game and by rule must sit out the first half of this week’s game at Mississippi State. Missouri 0-0 -- 2-1 .667 • The pregame Catwalk presented by Chevy had a new addition this year. A partnership between Tennessee 0-0 -- 1-2 .333 Kentucky Children’s Hospital, Kentucky College of Engineering and Toyota Motor Manufactur- KENTUCKY 0-1 .000 2-1 .667 ing Kentucky created a new and specially built pushcart vehicle that will provide a Kentucky South Carolina 0-1 .000 1-2 .333 Children’s Hospital patient the chance to both accompany the Wildcats on the Cat Walk and Vanderbilt 0-1 .000 0-2 .000 attend a game at Kroger Field. A new patient will be chosen by the Kentucky Children’s Hospital each week to participate. Offensive tackle and College of Engineering junior Luke Fortner WESTERN DIVISION helped design the cart. • UK’s five 2019 NFL draft picks (Allen, Lonnie Johnson Jr., Mike Edwards, Snell, George Asafo-Adjei) Team SEC Pct. All Pct. were the most since eight players (James Ramsey, Jim Kovach, Kelly Kirchbaum, Rod Stewart, Bob Alabama 1-0 1.000 3-0 1.000 Winkel, Robert Hawkins, Dan Fowler and David Stephens) were chosen in 1979. Ole Miss 1-0 1.000 2-1 .667 Auburn 0-0 -- 3-0 1.000 ON THE ROAD AGAIN LSU 0-0 -- 3-0 1.000 • One of the hallmarks of the last two seasons under Coach Mark Stoops has been the team’s Miss. State 0-0 -- 2-1 .667 ability to win on the road. Texas A&M 0-0 -- 2-1 .667 • In each of the past two seasons, Kentucky has posted a 3-2 record in away games at the opponent Arkansas 0-1 .000 2-1 .667 stadium (does not include neutral site games). Not including neutral site games, it is the first time UK had a winning away record in consecutive years since 1952 and 1953, when the Wildcats went 3-2-1 and 2-1-1, respectively, in those two seasons. WEEK TWO IN SEC • Kentucky also has a chance to make a bit of history this week at Mississippi State. If the Wildcats can win, it would be the third straight season that UK has won its away opener, also 2017 at September 21 Southern Mississippi and 2018 at Florida.