Kentucky Football Countdown: 37 days till kickoff

We are only 37 days away from the start of the 2022 Kentucky football season. Do not panic. That’s the perfect amount of time to prepare accordingly, while excitement grows with each passing moment. Allow me to amplify that excitement even more by taking a walk through the Kentucky football archives.
Long before Kroger Field welcomed 61,000 Wildcat fans, Stoll Field was the home of Kentucky football. Right across the Avenue of Champions from Memorial Coliseum, the facility also known as McLean Stadium could hold up to 37,000 people. Its final year of use was 1972. After it was decommissioned, it transformed into a multi-purpose field. Most recently it was where the UK Marching Band practiced, until the new Gatton Student Center footprint consumed Stoll Field’s remnants.
Charlie McClendon spent two seasons playing for Bear Bryant at Stoll Field in 1949 and 50, helping the Cats reach the Orange Bowl and win the Sugar Bowl. Following his playing days, McClendon entered the coaching ranks. After starting in Lexington, he bounced around as an assistant until LSU named him head coach of the Tigers in 1962. Throughout his 18-year tenure he took the Tigers to 13 bowl games, compiling a 137-59-7 record. He was named National Coach of the Year in 1970 after leading LSU to an SEC Championship.
Memorable Kentucky Football 37-point Games
I often remember where I was and what happened in the games, but rarely do I remember the final score. For example, 16-year-old Nick Roush spent most of one Saturday evening pacing the concourse of the south end zone. After sneaking into the game and sitting in the student section, I needed to be close enough to the field to rush it, but could not jinx the Cats by sliding too close to the bottom of the end zone.
When Andre Woodson found a wide open Stephen Johnson in the corner of the end zone in overtime No. 3, the moment felt real. Seconds later that eagerness waned when Kentucky did not convert the two-point conversion. The Wildcats had to get a stop, or the dream of defeating No. 1 LSU was over.
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From my vantage point in the south end zone, I saw Charles Scott take the hand-off on fourth and two. Braxton Kelly met him in the hole, but was he quick enough? Did Scott keep the drive alive? Afraid of a Bluegrass Miracle situation, I waited for confirmation from Carl Nathy to sprint onto the Commonwealth Stadium turf to celebrate Kentucky’s 43-37 win over top-ranked LSU in three overtimes. It was just the program’s third ever victory over the No. 1 team in America.
A week later College GameDay came to town with Tim Tebow’s Florida Gators. The dinged up Cats put up a valiant fight, but ultimately fell 45-37.
On a more positive note, remember the final score to the Belk Bowl? The name of the postseason game makes it sound insignificant, but the 37-30 Kentucky victory over Virginia Tech is one of the most exciting games in Kentucky football history. The game had it all:
- Lynn Bowden fisticuffs
- Bud Foster’s ESPN2 retirement party
- 5 lead changes and 2 ties
- A 61-yard Bowden scramble
- An 18-play, 8+ minute drive drive capped off with a game-winning TD pass
- A scoop and score TD at the final horn
The improbable ending to Bowden Ball in 2019 is the stuff of legend.
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