Early season wins over Florida have propelled Kentucky to big years
Mark Stoops has built a solid SEC football program at Kentucky. Over the last seven seasons, the Wildcats have won 48 games and currently own a four-game bowl winning streak. During this run, UK has emerged as a consistent winner in the East division.
Stability is important, but busting through and capitalizing on big seasons when the opportunity presents itself is even more important. For a program to truly grow, there need to be ranked finishes and double-digit win seasons to help upgrade your program’s prestige.
Kentucky has had two of those seasons in the last four years. Each got rolling downhill after an early season victory over Florida.
In 2018, Kentucky was fresh off a sloppy win against a bad Central Michigan team and did not have much buzz with Terry Wilson at quarterback. At Florida, Dan Mullen was in his first season and inherited a solid roster from Jim McElwain. Mullen had Florida back in the top 25 after one win and entered the game as a 13-point favorite.
Thanks to a dominant rushing performance with some splash plays by Wilson and a great defensive performance, Kentucky snapped the longest losing streak in college football in a 27-16 win that included a walk-off defensive touchdown. From that point, Kentucky would win eight more games and finish No. 12 in the AP Poll following a win over Penn State in the Citrus Bowl. Kentucky also hosted Georgia in November in the de facto SEC East title game.
The win against Florida in Week 2 started a great run for the program.
In 2021, Kentucky got off to a fast start with a 4-0 mark as the Wildcats won their first two SEC contests against Missouri and South Carolina. The Cats were a small favorite in each but were set to host Florida in Week 6 as a touchdown dog. The Gators impressed many with a close season loss to Alabama and hammered Tennessee at home the week before.
Despite a rough offensive outing from Will Levis, tailback Chris Rodriguez Jr. had a very productive game on the ground, and the defense was outstanding producing multiple red zone stops. Trevin Wallace returned a blocked field goal for a touchdown in the third quarter that completely flipped the momentum of the game.
Kentucky got a late goal-to-go stop to clinch the game and went to Georgia the next week with “College GameDay” in town playing in another contest that decided the SEC East crown.
A common denominator in each big breakthrough season under Stoops was getting an early win against Florida that included a strong defensive performance with a non-offensive touchdown that helped the Cats create separation. Those two seasons have allowed Kentucky raise to raise its profile.
The success in 2018 and 2021 helped create the foundation for the current program. Previous success has put the Cats in a position to receive a preseason ranking and have a legit shot at winning a division title. However, recent history tells us that Kentucky must beat Florida to put the wheels in motion to create big games later in the season.
UK has another chance on Saturday night to set the table for a third breakthrough season under Stoops.
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