9 Big Picture Things We Learned from the Kentucky Win over Florida

For most of the season, Kentucky football fans have spent more time talking about the future of the program than the actual games. Now that the Wildcats are beating SEC teams, it’s much more difficult to discern what the future will look like. Let’s examine what last night’s 38-7 victory over Florida means for the future of the program.

Kentucky is NOT the Worst Team in the SEC

That was certainly in doubt during the preseason and well into the month of October. If you looked at the standings or crossed paths with an SEC Power Rankings, Kentucky was at the very bottom. After a pair of SEC wins, the Wildcats are definitively out of the gutter.

Kentucky isn’t one of the four schools playing with an interim head coach. Mississippi State got a lot of credit for playing close games, but only has one win to show for it. The Cats have a road SEC win on their resume and a chance to add one more as a CFP spoiler.

Where Kentucky exactly ranks among its SEC peers in the bottom half of the league is subjective, and frankly, irrelevant. What’s most important is that they are not definitively the worst team in the league, which was certainly the case after the loss to South Carolina, the Gamecocks’ only SEC win this fall.

Death of a Streak

It wasn’t the most hard-hitting analysis, but it was 100% accurate. The SEC home losing streak had to die. That ugly cloud was going to get uglier and uglier if it didn’t end this season. The program couldn’t let it hang over Kroger Field any longer.

Kentucky is Actively Recruiting

Not gonna lie, wasn’t sure if that was a thing that was happening or not. We heard about a few JUCO offers going out over the last few weeks, but there was no real recruiting buzz around the program in recent weeks. Then Carsyn Baker quietly showed up on campus for an official visit.

The four-star Georgia running back could not only give this recruiting class some much-needed star power, it gives you the opportunity to flex your recruiting muscles. The Florida commit was essentially dancing on the Gators’ graves in the middle of last night’s game. What a sport.

🤔 pic.twitter.com/S6RvqyLbmn

— Carsyn Baker 'ALL Day' (@carsyn_baker) November 9, 2025

A Bowl Game is Possible

It felt improbable after Kentucky lost to Ole Miss and South Carolina. It felt impossible after the overtime loss to Texas, and yet, a return to the postseason is very much on the table.

Tennessee Tech is undefeated, but they are still an FCS foe that Kentucky should be able to outman on Senior Day. SP+ currently has Kentucky as a 13-point dog to Vanderbilt and a 9-point dog against Louisville. Ask Louisville fans if they feel comfortable as a betting favorite against Kentucky. The Cards just lost at home as a 20-point favorite and have not covered a spread at Don’t-Call-Me-Papa-John’s Stadium this season.

A bowl berth after starting 0-5 against SEC foes would be a remarkable feat for Mark Stoops, arguably his best coaching job since Lynn Bowden’s 2019 campaign.

Kicking Florida’s Ass Never Gets Old

We all know the circumstances. Their coach was fired, injuries piled up, and things got so bad that their star quarterback was benched. Don’t fail to see the forest for the trees. For one, that quarterback was benched because of the way Kentucky made him play. Two, who cares? It’s freaking Florida.

For most Kentucky football fans, this game was just another opportunity for Steve Spurrier to run up the score, then mock us on the way out the door. Urban Meyer shared a similar attitude. When he eventually moved on to Ohio State, he told recruits that he didn’t want “losers” who would even consider playing at Kentucky.

The Wildcats were second-class citizens who were subservient to the Sunshine State’s SEC program. Kentucky has now defeated that team in four of the last five meetings.

My Dad traveled with me to Gainesville for the win in 2022. He found a single ticket and sat amongst the orange and blue fans in The Swamp. After the game, you couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. The words he shared with me after the game are true now and forever. “It never gets old beating Florida.” The fans who found us outside Kroger Field agree.

Kentucky Backs Up Big Talk

It’s been stated already, but it must be said again. Mark Stoops said this was a mature team that wasn’t going to quit. They were built to overcome adversity. At times, it sounded like a bunch of bologna. He was 100% correct. Give credit where it’s due.

Youth Movement is Working

There was an 11 Personnel in October where Adam Luckett and I were trying to navigate through the maze of Kentucky football malaise. The goal was to answer the question, How does Mark Stoops keep his job?

1. He’s actually telling the truth. His team will not quit and that will give them a chance to win games in November. Check.

2. Cutter Boley is awesome and a youth movement creates momentum. Check.

Both are surprising developments. What’s even more stunning is how much the latter has exceeded expectations. Boley has some ball security issues, but he raised his floor high enough to reach the ceiling, which is one of the better quarterbacks in the SEC.

It’s also not just Boley. Between the wide receivers, defensive backs and linemen, there were about a dozen first and second-year players who played a role in turning a close game into a blowout. There are clear building blocks on this roster to see a positive path forward.

Boley Publicly has Stoops’ Back

The questions about Mark Stoops’ future have shifted to Cutter Boley. Does he still want to play for Stoops? Will he stay at Kentucky or seek out greener transfer portal pastures?

Words from interviews will always be viewed with a certain degree of skepticism, but the ones Boley shared last night about his head coach hit a sweet spot. It’s not that he just said, “Coach Stoops is the man.” There was a line of questioning where Boley dove into great detail, sharing how Stoops galvanized the group and why the players love him so much. They hated hearing him criticized and responded accordingly.

Mark Stoops’ future was directly connected with Cutter Boley’s play. The quarterback has been incredible and is doing whatever he can to prop up his coach. That’s not nothing.

Uncertainty Surrounding Meaningful Games in November

In the new era of college football, not everyone is going to be in contention to make the CFP, but the expansion has added more teams to the conversation. For a program like Kentucky, you cannot expect the Wildcats to be in that conversation every single year. The hope is to be in the mix on a semi-regular basis, and the goal is to play meaningful football games every November.

There are only 12 Saturdays in this sport. You gotta enjoy the ride. Last year, that ride was taken away from Kentucky fans in November because that team completely let go of the rope. Despite the early-season struggles, this team has rallied to give Kentucky fans two November wins with three to go.

What happens next? We knew a loss to Florida might seal Mark Stoops’ fate. We have no idea what blowing out Florida means for it. There are three more games on the schedule, and each week’s result could have enormous big-picture ramifications for this program. Big Blue Nation must ride a wave of uncertainty through November, and that’s what makes this sport so much freaking fun.