BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Revising the UK 4th Quarter Meltdowns Post

I receieved quite a few emails and twitter messages Friday after writing the post chronicling the 24 UK meltdowns and missed opportunities since 2002.  Most of them argued that since Rich Brooks got to Kentucky, the Cats had won many of those games.  I even had one guy comment I didn't deserve to have 2 testicles, which I can't see how it applies, but nonetheless I think I will hold on to both of mine.  But, I did think it was a fair criticism that I looked at the negative side of the program in that post without also pointing out some of the high points.  Especially after Saturday's great win, as a result of great 4th quarter play, I went back and found the great times with UK football over the past 8 season.  Keep in mind that there were 24 games where poor 4th quarters cost UK games: 2002: Kentucky 22, #18 Louisville 17 -UK leads 19-17 going into 4th quarter, hold UL scoreless in the quarter and give up only 1 first down 2002: Kentucky 27, Indiana 17 -UK trails 17-14 entering 4th quarter, get TD pass from Lorenzen on 1st play of quarter, return INT for TD late in quarter 2004: Kentucky 14, Vanderbilt 13 -UK trails 13-0 heading into 4thquarter, UK scores with 1:35 remaining to take the lead, then hold Vandy to 15 yards on their final possession 2005: Kentucky 41, Idaho State 29 -UK trails 29-28 in the 4th, but Rafael Little returns kickoff for TD and UK scores late TD to avoid upset 2005: Kentucky 13, Mississippi State 7 -UK able to hold 6-point lead in 4th quarter and Mississippi State misses field goal with only drive into UK territory 2005: Kentucky 48, Vanderbilt 43 -UK actually leads 48-24 in 4th quarter, but give up 3 TD's in quarter.  UK able to ice away final 3 minutes. 2006: Kentucky 45, Central Michigan 36 -After C. Michigan cuts UK lead to 2 points, UK mounts drive that leads to Little TD run to clinch game 2006: Kentucky 34, Mississippi State 31 -Kentucky gives up 2 fourth quarter TD's but recovers onside kick to survive 2006: Kentucky 24, Georgia 20 -After giving up UGA touchdown with 7 minutes left, UK able to mount drive and score with 1 minute left to win game 2006: Kentucky 42, Louisiana-Monroe 40 -UK able to knock down 2-point conversion late to thwart upset 2007: Kentucky 40, #9 Louisville 34 -Stevie gets loose with under a minute remaining 2007: Kentucky 43, #1 LSU 37 -UK gets 2 Seiber field goals in 4th quarter to tie game, get 4th down stop in 3rd overtime to win 2007: Kentucky 35, Florida State 28 -UK gives up late touchdown, but able to get INT with under a minute left to clinch bowl win 2008: Kentucky 20, Middle Tennessee 14 -UK nearly gives up hail mary TD, but makes tackle at 1-yard line to save win 2008: Kentucky 21, Arkansas 20 -UK scores 2 fourth quarter TD's, including one with 2 minutes left, to steal win from Petrino 2008: Kentucky 14, Mississippi State 13 -MSU has extra point blocked and misses short field in 4th quarter to preserve UK win 2008: Kentucky 25, East Carolina 19 -Ventrell Jenkins scored on a 56 fumble return with 3 minutes left to get improbable bowl win 2009: Kentucky 31, Louisville 27 -UK trails at 2 different occasions in 4thquarter, but get Cobb TD catch with 5 minutes left to win 2009: Kentucky 21, Auburn 14 -UK gets 2 fourth quarter TD'sto win game, including Cobb run with 3:15 remaining, and Cats defense holds 2009: Kentucky 34, Georgia 27 -UK holds 7 point lead for the final 10 minutes of the game after outscoring UGA 28-7 in 2nd half 2010: Kentucky 23, Louisville 16 -After UL cuts lead to 7 in 4th quarter, UK able to use up last 3 minutes of game to clinch win 2010: Kentucky 31, #10 South Carolina 28 -UK holds USC scoreless in 2nd half, and gets Cobb TD catch with 1:15 left to pull off upset So, there are 22 games here where the game was in doubt in the 4th quarter and the Cats were able to pull out the win, whereas they have had 24 losses.  There are certainly more wins there than I remember or thought I would find, but for this program to continue improving, that ratio needs to reach 60-70 percent wins, as opposed to the 45-50 percent they are currently winning.