KSR Today: No, you didn't dream that -- Kentucky crushed Florida, and it feels so good

There was a point midway through the fourth quarter where I looked down at the score and thought my eyes were deceiving me, the last couple of hours probably a dream or hallucination. I’d eventually snap out of it and find a 7-3 slobberknocker on my screen, or worse, another a lot to a little performance favoring whoever Kentucky was playing that day. That was the story of the season, and more broadly, the Mark Stoops era in recent years. The Wildcats have been a better sleep aid than NyQuil as of late, so it all adds up.

No amount of face smacks or arm pinches could shake that 38-7 masterclass away, Stoops shutting up his critics — hand up, guilty as charged — with the best football product we’ve seen in Lexington in years. In fact, it may have been the most impressive all-around performance against SEC competition in 13 years of this administration. The numbers back that up, too, as it’s the largest margin of victory for Kentucky in league play in nearly three decades when the Cats beat Vanderbilt by 38 points in 1998. It’s also the largest margin of victory against Florida since 1950.

Speaking of the 50s, it’s also the first time the Wildcats have won three consecutive home games against Florida since 1950 to 1955. Not a bad way to end a 770-day home losing streak against SEC competition, right?

Look, Auburn and Florida aren’t very good and this probably doesn’t change much big picture — not yet, anyway. If Kentucky uses this momentum to lay an egg against 10-0 Tennessee Tech, winning ugly or somehow losing outright, followed by road losses at Vanderbilt and Louisville, it’s probably still time for a divorce at the end of the season at 4-8 or 5-7. I’d even argue that splitting those last two, particularly with a loss to Vince Marrow and the Cardinals, should lead to a hug and farewell to the winningest coach in program history for a fresh start across the board. We can talk about those scenarios if/when the time comes.

The current reality, though, is that Kentucky played some really good football on Saturday and the path is now there to finish the season exceeding all expectations we had entering 2025. The Wildcats were a muffed punt away from a 38-0 shutout against the Gators, and even still, they’ve held an SEC team to seven points or less for the first time since 2020. They’re led by Cutter Boley, now just the second freshman quarterback at UK to win three starts since 1991, joining only Morgan Newton in 2009. Tennessee Tech is good, but it’s still the OVC and, on paper, should be overwhelmed by Kentucky’s talent. Vanderbilt needed overtime and a Heisman-level performance from Diego Pavia (377 passing yards, 112 rushing yards, four TDs) to beat a coachless Auburn team at home a week after Kentucky beat the Tigers on the road in regulation. And Louisville just threw its College Football Playoff dreams in the garbage with a home loss to four-loss California — the Cardinals look as beatable as ever.

The way things are trending, the Wildcats are more likely to win out and finish 7-5 than they are to go 4-8 and 5-7. I have all of the confidence in the world for Stoops to mess that up, don’t get me wrong, but with his back against the wall and his job guaranteed only on a week-by-week basis up to this point, he kept on swinging and gave himself a legitimate chance to salvage this. For all of the blame he deserves for tanking this program from the standard he set (and earned him top-10-paid-coach status) with bad player evaluation and complacency, he deserves equal credit for temporarily putting the flames out on this dumpster fire. It’s far from over, but his players are fighting like hell for him and it’s led to back-to-back SEC wins. Why not see how this thing finishes?

Mark Stoops thanks fans for their patience

The head ball coach was obviously proud of his players and staff for dominating the Gators, but maybe more so, he’s grateful for Big Blue Nation and fans’ patience as Stoops pushed back out from rock bottom. Losing 10 straight SEC home games sucks for everyone, but there they were, filling up Kroger Field late Saturday evening to help give Kentucky its best shot to end that streak.

And that’s exactly what the Cats did.

“These folks sacrifice an awful lot,” Stoops said of BBN. “They care and they continue to show up. We are going to need them to continue to do that.  We always acknowledge it and appreciate them. They have to save money, they travel long distances.  They show up week in and week out. I’ve always acknowledged our responsibility to play well for them. … To play well, it was nice to get some rewards.  We are close a lot, but that doesn’t count when you are a fan or media. I understand that.”

Bush Hamdan, Brad White and the Cats recap a monster performance

What did everyone else have to say about the blowout win? Hear from Kentucky’s coordinators and four players.

Bush Hamdan, Brad White

Cutter Boley, Daveren Rayner, Ty Bryant and Joshua Braun

KSR’s Rapid Reaction was a BLAST

It’s not often you get to celebrate a win like this — especially at Kroger Field, as the numbers make clear. So the KSR crew is going to enjoy every second of it when they can, digging into all of the fun outside the stadium shortly after the game went final.

Be giddy with us.

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Unbelievable highlights of the 31-point win

After getting down 7-3 early thanks to an ugly muffed punt, it was all Kentucky the rest of the way, Boley throwing a couple of touchdowns and Dante Dowdell and Seth McGowan combining for 196 rushing yards and three scores in the 38-7 win.

Enjoy the highlights on repeat this morning as you pour another cup of coffee.

A BIG Sunday for UK Athletics

It’s been fun celebrating the men’s basketball win over Valparaiso and we’re gonna keep celebrating the Florida win for football, but don’t think things are slowing down anytime soon. In fact, Sunday has three big-time matchups to keep a close eye on — and KSR will be following along closely.

First up, women’s basketball vs. Buffalo at 2 p.m. ET, live on ESPN+. That’s the Clara Strack homecoming game up in New York, the Wildcats looking to start the season 3-0.

From there, No. 1 seed UK men’s soccer takes on No. 8 Coastal Carolina in the 2025 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Championship, the start of the Wildcats’ journey for a conference tournament title. Win that one, and they’ll play again Wednesday in the semifinals, followed by the championship next Sunday. That starts at 3 p.m. ET, also on ESPN+.

And then to wrap up, No. 2 Kentucky volleyball takes on No. 19 Tennessee inside Historic Memorial Coliseum at 5 p.m. ET, live on ESPN. One step closer to another SEC title under Craig Skinner.

Stick around with us, folks. An unbelievable weekend for UK Athletics is only going to get better.