Former Florida QB Shane Matthews slams Kentucky football

Former Florida Gators quarterback Shane Matthews had some harsh words for Kentucky football in a clip released on social media by 1010 XL / 92.5 FM the “flagship radio home of the Jacksonville Jaguars and home to Florida Gator Athletics.”

“Kentucky’s getting all this love somehow,” Matthews said. “Seems like they get all this love every year. Until they can complete a forward pass I have a hard time looking at Kentucky as a team that can beat us (Florida). But we’ve had trouble there last couple times.”

The clip was released to promote Gators Roundtable which features Matthews, former Florida and South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier, Pat Dooley and Dan Hicken.

Kentucky associate head coach and tight ends coach Vince Marrow responded to the clip on Twitter stating simply

“Lol can’t wait. Go Big Blue.”

Kentucky and Florida’s History

Kentucky last beat Florida in 2018, which ended a 31-game win streak the Gators had against the Wildcats.

In the victory, Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson connected with Lynn Bowden for a 40-yard passing touchdown.

In 2019, Florida edged out Kentucky 29-21, with Florida sealing the game on a 76-yard touchdown run with just 33 seconds left in the game. Florida went on to win the Orange Bowl over Virginia that season. Kentucky went on to beat Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl, led by the superhuman efforts of do-it-all offensive weapon Lynn Bowden all season.

In 2020, Kentucky lost to Florida 34-10. Kentucky went on to finish the season 5-6, but ended the year winning the Gator Bowl against NC State. Florida finished 8-4, losing to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

Looking forward to 2021, Kentucky has had an offseason marred with controversy but added quarterback Will Levis and wide receivers Wan’Dale Robinson and Dekel Crowdus to give the offense a jumpstart.

Florida enters 2021 having lost Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts and Kadarius Toney to the NFL. In Trask’s place steps Emory Jones, who’s waited his turn and now has the keys to the Gator offense. Jones will lead an offense that could be heavily reliant on the run game with Dameon Pierce, Nay’Quan Wright, Malik Davis, DeMarkcus Bowman and Lorenzo Lingard all capable of shouldering the load. Defensively, the Gators show potential but will have to execute. Key players include Kaiir Elam, Jaydon Hill, Trey Dean, Ventrell Miller, Brenton Cox Jr and Gervon Dexter.