Those that remember tell us about the 1977 football

KYAnywhereEverywhere · 2026-11-01T11:09:43-0600

This year I keep seeing stats that say Kentucky hasn't done this well since 1977. 1977 was before my time in general and way before I was a football fan.

Looking for any and all information about that team. Who was the coach? Who was the quarterback? What did the team do well? Who were the other stars?

How was the rest of the SEC? How did the season end? How were the seasons before and after? What happened to cause UK to go from being so good to a perennial basement dweller in the decades that followed? Any particular antidotes about that team? What were the biggest matchups of the year?

Like I said, anything anybody has to share about that team would be interesting.

jeffky · 2026-11-01T11:18:12-0600

Big strong ran the ball alot our defense was amazing .Derek Ramsey and art still big and powerful big time athletes .that team should have been undefeated. They were not use to the altitude when they played Baylor early in the season

Lameguy · 2026-11-01T11:33:36-0600

Everything was on tape delay and you had to wait till 11:30 to watch the game and you didn’t dare watch the news.

Lameguy · 2026-11-01T11:35:42-0600

jeffky said:
Big strong ran the ball alot our defense was amazing .Derek Ramsey and art still big and powerful big time athletes .that team should have been undefeated. They were not use to the altitude when they played Baylor early in the season

If I remember correctly their best running back was hurt in that game and they couldn‘t generate any offense

FLBBNFAN · 2026-11-01T11:44:19-0600

Lameguy said:
Everything was on tape delay and you had to wait till 11:30 to watch the game and you didn’t dare watch the news.

Man I remember that scenario as a kid lol. Yeah you avoided the news . Hard to believe the NBA was on tape delay as well until Magic and Bird brought the league back.

Lameguy · 2026-11-01T11:56:06-0600

FLBBNFAN said:
Man I remember that scenario as a kid lol. Yeah you avoided the news . Hard to believe the NBA was on tape delay as well until Magic and Bird brought the league back.

My friends use to call me and give fake scores just to mess with me

Anon1760448236 · 2026-11-01T11:56:57-0600

jeffky said:
Big strong ran the ball alot our defense was amazing .Derek Ramsey and art still big and powerful big time athletes .that team should have been undefeated. They were not use to the altitude when they played Baylor early in the season

It wasnt the altitude, but the heat on the astroturf...and UK's star RB tore his knee up in the game...only loss of the season

Uncle B.S. · 2026-11-01T12:00:34-0600

I remember being sick that we went to the Peach Bowl in 1976 and took the probation in ‘77.

Oh, what mighta, coulda, and shoulda been.

Always believed we were trying to avoid too much sniffing around the basketball team.

Anon161453 · 2026-11-01T12:01:48-0600

jeffky said:
Big strong ran the ball alot our defense was amazing .Derek Ramsey and art still big and powerful big time athletes .that team should have been undefeated. They were not use to the altitude when they played Baylor early in the season

Altitude? In Waco, Texas? It was the heat.

megablue · 2026-11-01T12:03:16-0600

What is amazing is that the worst team on the Schedule that year, Baylor, beat them in Waco in the second game of the season. Cawood said it was over 120 degrees on the turf on that hot day.

Anon161453 · 2026-11-01T12:04:09-0600

It was over by '78. There were huge expectations, opened with a 14-14 tie against SC (they were an independent) on the way to 4-6-1. Non con opponents were SC, Baylor, Maryland, Penn St and Va Tech

Lameguy · 2026-11-01T12:06:51-0600

Uncle B.S. said:
I remember being sick that we went to the Peach Bowl in 1976 and took the probation in ‘77.

Oh, what mighta, coulda, and shoulda been.

Always believed we were trying to avoid too much sniffing around the basketball team.

Some major issues going on with football team during that time

FLBBNFAN · 2026-11-01T12:13:31-0600

Lameguy said:
My friends use to call me and give fake scores just to mess with me

that's awesome

Uncle B.S. · 2026-11-01T12:16:20-0600

Lameguy said:
Some major issues going on with football team during that time

Ya think?

vhcat1970 · 2026-11-01T12:19:41-0600

Best was beating the crap out of LSU & Uga on the road back-to-back by scores of like 30 something to 6 or 0. For whatever reason, England's then Prince Charles was at the Uga game.

Don't think we were stopped on 3rd & less than 2 all season. Typically, Ramsey would take snap and slide right down the line till he found a spot to dive forward.

The PSU game was something else too.

Catapult44 · 2026-11-01T12:20:38-0600

One of the interesting things about that team was we ran the straight T. Only team I've ever seen run it. I know Rod Stewart was our best RB but QB Derick Ramsey was a very close 2nd.

Lameguy · 2026-11-01T12:26:51-0600

Catapult44 said:
One of the interesting things about that team was we ran the straight T. Only team I've ever seen run it. I know Rod Stewart was our best RB but QB Derick Ramsey was a very close 2nd.

Wasn’t Stewart hurt in the Baylor game?

vhcat1970 · 2026-11-01T12:35:53-0600

Lameguy said:
Wasn’t Stewart hurt in the Baylor game?

This how he looked by in the day:

Smeegs · 2026-11-01T13:11:14-0600

The Camden duo: Derrick Ramsey on offense. Art Still on defense. Probably the two most imposingly gifted athletes ever to wear a UK uniform at that time.

And both recruited out of the same New Jersey town.

BlueVelvetFog · 2026-11-01T13:28:50-0600

Beat UGA 33-0 between the hedges. Prince Charles happened to attend that game.

theBlues · 2026-11-01T13:29:58-0600

Smeegs said:
The Camden duo: Derrick Ramsey on offense. Art Still on defense. Probably the two most imposingly gifted athletes ever to wear a UK uniform at that time.

And both recruited out of the same New Jersey town.

Ramsey was an automatic 3 yards on a qb sneak and Still was possibly the greatest player UK has produced.

3 Putts · 2026-11-01T13:31:43-0600

Lameguy said:
Everything was on tape delay and you had to wait till 11:30 to watch the game and you didn’t dare watch the news.

Jefferson Pilot on WSAZ TV3 out of Huntington. People nowadays think Jefferson Pilot was a classic rock band.

BlueVelvetFog · 2026-11-01T13:37:55-0600

Look for yourself. Kentucky Penn Statevfrom 1977

mdluk1 · 2026-11-01T13:44:05-0600

Lameguy said:
If I remember correctly their best running back was hurt in that game and they couldn‘t generate any offense

And I seem to remember it was blazing hot in Texas that day

jeffky · 2026-11-01T13:47:49-0600

Anon1760448236 said:
It wasnt the altitude, but the heat on the astroturf...and UK's star RB tore his knee up in the game...only loss of the season

You're right I just remember they had a hard time breathing 110 degrees that day suffocating heat

rivercatinfl · 2026-11-01T14:07:53-0600

Lameguy said:
If I remember correctly their best running back was hurt in that game and they couldn‘t generate any offense

Our back was Sonny Collins. He was really good.

Lameguy · 2026-11-01T14:19:53-0600

rivercatinfl said:
Our back was Sonny Collins. He was really good.

Pretty sure Sonny Collins was before 77

katwest · 2026-11-01T14:23:18-0600

We beat Baylor the next year, I remember hearing the announcer keep saying tackle by Singletary. I didn’t know who he was but soon after everybody knew his name, anyway we couldn’t block him that day but we won the game. Kentucky had Jim Kovach at linebacker, one of the few bright spots that season. Also we beat Penn State in 76 and 77, one of the few teams to have back to back wins over them up until that time.

Haggin_Hall_1983 · 2026-11-01T14:34:38-0600

KYAnywhereEverywhere said:
This year I keep seeing stats that say Kentucky hasn't done this well since 1977. 1977 was before my time in general and way before I was a football fan.

Looking for any and all information about that team. Who was the coach? Who was the quarterback? What did the team do well? Who were the other stars?

How was the rest of the SEC? How did the season end? How were the seasons before and after? What happened to cause UK to go from being so good to a perennial basement dweller in the decades that followed? Any particular antidotes about that team? What were the biggest matchups of the year?

Like I said, anything anybody has to share about that team would be interesting.

Otis Singletary was President of UK, and football was going to be king if Otis had anything to do with it. Otis knew that football rang the registers $$$$. Joe B Hall can tell you all about that if you read his book. UK started playing (and paying) in recruiting, etc. like the big boys in the league- and the big boys weren't having it. Curci was an excellent coach who changed the culture overnight. And also around 38 years of age at the time.

katwest · 2026-11-01T14:35:09-0600

Sonny Collins was a senior in 1972. I remember watching him when madisonville came to Caldwell County to football his senior year. He was a big dude and could move, he was known as Alfred Collins then and when he got to Lexington he went by Sonny. That was his full name Alfred Sonny Collins, he was the SECs all time rushing leader for a while until Charles Alexander for LSU broke his record.

cordmaker 74 · 2026-11-01T16:14:58-0600

If I remember correctly, in the Florida game, Florida had some of their players fighting each other on the sidelines! That was a tough bunch of players the 77 team! One of my favorite all time Kentucky teams!

ukalum1988 · 2026-11-01T16:17:47-0600

KYAnywhereEverywhere said:
This year I keep seeing stats that say Kentucky hasn't done this well since 1977. 1977 was before my time in general and way before I was a football fan.

Looking for any and all information about that team. Who was the coach? Who was the quarterback? What did the team do well? Who were the other stars?

How was the rest of the SEC? How did the season end? How were the seasons before and after? What happened to cause UK to go from being so good to a perennial basement dweller in the decades that followed? Any particular antidotes about that team? What were the biggest matchups of the year?

Like I said, anything anybody has to share about that team would be interesting.

The 77 team kicked ***. I was 12 years old at the time and the 76 & 77 teams were the first time I started paying attention to UK FB. My dad subscribed to this new publication known as The Cats Pause and I was hooked.

Anon1760448236 · 2026-11-01T16:49:43-0600

Lameguy said:
Some major issues going on with football team during that time

Elmore Stephens, a TE from Louisville, convicted for murder, and stuffing the body in the trunk of his car, IIRC

Lameguy · 2026-11-01T17:07:11-0600

Anon1760448236 said:
Elmore Stephens, a TE from Louisville, convicted for murder, and stuffing the body in the trunk of his car, IIRC

I read an article about that years ago but couldn’t remember the details

katwest · 2026-11-01T17:12:20-0600

I remember watching the press ask Bear Bryant how it felt to be SEC champs in 1977 and he said we didn’t play Kentucky and the were undefeated in conference play too. I thought that was pretty classy of him to recognise that Kentucky was co-champions too and he said he didn’t know if Alabama could beat them or not. Sounds like he was still fond of Kentucky.

Those that remember tell us about the 1977 football

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