Game Notes: Kentucky’s 38-7 win over Florida was one for the record books

Kentucky’s 38-7 rout of Florida at Kroger Field on Saturday night was one for the ages. The Wildcats dominated in every phase and, along the way, stacked up a long list of program milestones that hadn’t been touched in decades.

You’ve probably heard that Kentucky has now defeated Florida three straight times in Lexington, but did you know it’s the first three-game home win streak over the Gators since 1950, 1953, and 1955? The Wildcats have also won four of the last five against Florida for the first time since 1948-53.

The 31-point margin of victory Saturday night was Kentucky’s largest against Florida since 1950, back when Kentucky won 40-6. The 31-point spread was also the program’s largest margin in any league game since 1998, when the Cats beat Vanderbilt 55-17.

With 38 points scored, Kentucky set a new high against Florida since the 41 points scored in 1974. Defensively, Kentucky held the Gators to their fewest points in the series since 1986.

One more, the 31-point blowout was Florida’s first 30+ point loss to an unranked team since 1970.

It’s milestones like those that jump out in the postgame notes from UKAthletics.com and show that Kentucky’s win is historically good.

More postgame notes from Kentucky’s 38-7 win over Florida

Kentucky Notes (via UKAthletics.com)

• General:
  • Mark Stoops extended his school records for wins (71), home wins (50) and SEC wins (33).
  • This is the first time Kentucky has defeated Auburn and Florida in the same season.
  • This is Kentucky’s first back-to-back SEC victories since 2023 vs. Vanderbilt and Florida.
  • This is the program’s largest margin of victory in a league game (31 points) since Nov. 14, 1998 vs. Vanderbilt (38 points, 55-17).
    • Kentucky gave Florida its first 30+ point loss by an unranked team since 1970.
  • Kentucky is the first SEC team to defeat Auburn and Florida in successive weeks since 2017.
  • This was the first time Kentucky did not punt in a game since Nov. 6, 2021, vs. Tennessee.
• Offense:
  • The Wildcats scored on their first four drives of the game, and they scored on six of their 10 drives in tonight’s game.
  • Tonight marked back-to-back games that UK opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive.
  • Kentucky rushed for 233 yards, most vs. an SEC opponent since running for 329 vs. Florida in 2023.
  • Kentucky converted 66.7 percent of their third downs (8 of 12), best since an equal number vs. Missouri in 2021.
  • Kentucky had 10 receivers with at least one catch.
• Defense:
  • This is the first time that UK allowed seven points or less against a league opponent in consecutive weeks since Oct.10 and 17, 2020, vs. Mississippi State and Tennessee.
  • This is the fewest points allowed by Kentucky against Florida (7) since Nov. 15, 1986 (3).
  • This was the first time UK gave up 247 yards or less to consecutive SEC opponents since 1999 at South Carolina and vs. LSU.
    • This was the first time since at least 1984 that UK gave up 247 yards or less to three SEC opponents in the same season.
  • This was the first time UK has allowed 16 points or less to three SEC opponents since 2020.
  • This was the first time Kentucky generated four turnovers since getting four vs. South Carolina in 2020.
  • This was the first time Kentucky intercepted three passes since the Vanderbilt game in 2023.
  • In the second quarter, Kentucky forced and recovered a fumble, UK’s first defensive fumble recovery of the season.
  • Kentucky made two fourth-down stops in the game. UK now has 13 defensive turnovers on downs this season.  UK entered the game tied for second in the SEC with 11 fourth-down stops.

See individual player notes and more here.