Kentucky Wildcats football

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For current information on this topic, see 2008 Kentucky Wildcats football team.

Kentucky Wildcats Football
First season	1881
Head coach	Rich Brooks
	6th year, 29–35–0
Home stadium	Commonwealth Stadium (Kentucky)
Stadium capacity	67,606
Stadium surface	Bermuda Grass
Location	Lexington, Kentucky
Conference	SEC
Division	East
All-time record	555–546–44 (.503)
Postseason bowl record	8–5–0
Claimed national titles	1 (1950 Sagarin Ratings)
Conference titles	2
Current uniform
Colors	Blue and White
Fight song	On, On, U of K, Kentucky Fight
Rivals	Louisville Cardinals Tennessee Volunteers

The Kentucky Wildcats are a college football program that competes in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision and the East Division of the Southeastern Conference.

[edit] Eras (by coach)

Paul "Bear" Bryant Era As a member of the football-heavy SEC, they compete against many of the top college football programs in the nation. They play at Commonwealth Stadium, which replaced Stoll Field in 1973. Paul "Bear" Bryant was Kentucky's head football coach for eight seasons.

Under Bryant the Wildcats won the 1947 Great Lakes Bowl, lost the 1950 Orange Bowl, won the 1951 Sugar Bowl and the 1952 Cotton Bowl. In final AP polls, the Wildcats were ranked #11 in 1949, #7 in 1950, #15 in 1951, #20 in 1952 and #16 in 1953. The final 1950 poll was taken prior to the bowl games; Kentucky then defeated undefeated and #1 ranked Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl and claims that this win earned them a national championship for the 1950 season, as they were ranked #1 in the Sagarin Ratings. The NCAA recognizes Kentucky as a co-national champion on its Past Football Bowl Subdivision National Champions Web site.

Fran Curci Era The 1976 Wildcats retroactively claimed a share of the Southeastern Conference championship under coach Fran Curci via a loss later forfeited by Mississippi State (and despite losing at home to conference champion Georgia) and won the Peach Bowl, finishing #18 in the final AP poll. The 1977 Kentucky team went 10–1 and was undefeated in SEC play but, despite finishing the season ranked #6 in the AP poll, did not play in a bowl game due to NCAA sanctions. Kentucky finished at #6 and Penn State at #5 despite the fact that Kentucky defeated Penn State at Penn State during the regular season.

Jerry Claiborne Era Coach Jerry Claiborne led the Wildcats to the 1983 Hall of Fame Bowl. Kentucky returned to the 1984 Hall of Fame Bowl and defeated a Wisconsin team ranked #20 in the polls to finish the season with a 9–3 record and a #19 ranking in the final AP and UPI polls.

Bill Curry Era The Wildcats played in the 1993 Peach Bowl under coach Bill Curry.

Hal Mumme Era Coach Hal Mumme led the Wildcats to the 1998 Outback Bowl and the 1999 Music City Bowl but the program was hit with severe sanctions for infractions during Mumme's tenure.

Guy Morriss Era Under coach Guy Morriss the Wildcats posted a 7–5 record in 2002 but were not eligible for postseason play due to NCAA sanctions.

Rich Brooks Era The team's current coach is Rich Brooks, who led the team to an 8–5 regular season record in 2006, including a memorable upset over the defending SEC champion Georgia, snapping a nine-game losing streak to the Bulldogs. Brooks also led the football team to its first bowl game since 1999 and its first bowl game victory since 1984, as Kentucky defeated the Clemson University Tigers 28–20 in the Music City Bowl. [1] On September, 15 2007. Brooks led UK to a 40–34 upset win over #9 Louisville. This marked UK's first win over Louisville since 2002 and the first win over a top 10 team since #4 Penn State in 1977. The Wildcats were ranked 8th in the nation before a loss to South Carolina on October 4. After the loss to South Carolina, Kentucky bounced back on October 13 to defeat #1 LSU in a historic triple overtime game.

The 2007 Kentucky Wildcats football defeated the Florida State Seminoles 35–28 in the 2007 Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 31, 2007. It was the Wildcats second straight bowl appearance after a drought dating back to 1999. Quarterback Andre' Woodson was named the Music City Bowl MVP for the second year in a row. The last three bowl appearances for the Cats have been in the Music City Bowl, which they have appeared in more than any other SEC team in the conference's affiliation with the game, which dates back to the inaugural game in 1998.

One obscure statistic illustrates the competitive challenge Kentucky has historically faced in football. The recruiting site Rivals.com recently pointed out that in the five seasons from 2003 through 2007, the Wildcats have only signed a total of six prospects who were rated by the site as four stars (out of five) or higher, (with the exception of Micah Johnson) none of them rated as five-star prospects. By contrast, Florida, who is grouped with Kentucky in the SEC East, signed 20 players rated four stars or higher by the same site in the 2007 class alone.^[1]

[edit] Logos and uniforms

Kentucky's uniform combinations

[edit] Bowl Games

[edit] Southeastern Conference Championships

Note: Bold year indicates outright conference title

[edit] All-Americans

Note: Bold name indicates unanimous choice

[edit] First Team All-SEC

Note: Bold name indicates unanimous choice
Note: Selections are after the SEC split into East/West divisions in 1992

[edit] Players Currently in the NFL

Position	Name	Height	Weight (lbs.)	Hometown				Draft Year	NFL Team
QB	Shane Boyd	6'1"	230	Lexington, KY		U.S.		2005	Houston Texans
WR	Keenan Burton	6'1"	200	Louisville, KY		U.S.		2008	St. Louis Rams
DE	Otis Grigsby	6'3"	260	San Antonio, TX		U.S.		2003	Minnesota Vikings
WR	Glenn Holt	6'1"	195	Miami, FL		U.S.		2006	Minnesota Vikings
WR	Steve Johnson	6'3"	210	San Francisco, CA		U.S.		2008	Buffalo Bills
RB	Rafael Little	5'10"	195	Anderson, SC		U.S.		2008	Tennessee Titans
K/P	Tim Masthay	6'2"	198	Paducah, KY		U.S.		2009	Indianapolis Colts
FS	Marcus McClinton	6'2"	215	Fort Campbell, KY		U.S.		2009	New England Patriots
S	Marlon McCree	5'11"	202	Orlando, FL		U.S.		2001	Denver Broncos
RB	Artose Pinner	5'10"	232	Hopkinsville, KY		U.S.		2003	Detroit Lions
DT	Myron Pryor	6'0"	320	Louisville, KY		U.S.		2009	New England Patriots
DT	DeWayne Robertson	6'1"	308	Memphis, TN		U.S.		2004	Denver Broncos
WR	Jacob Tamme	6'4"	220	Lexington, KY		U.S.		2008	Indianapolis Colts
LB	Johnny Williams	6'2"	225	Jacksonville, FL		U.S.		2009	Jacksonville Jaguars
QB	Andre Woodson	6'6"	230	Elizabethtown, KY		U.S.		2008	New York Giants
LB	Wesley Woodyard	6'1"	230	LaGrange, GA		U.S.		2008	Denver Broncos

[edit] Hall of Famers

[edit] Pro

[edit] College

[edit] Outland Trophy Winner

• Bob Gain - 1950

[edit] References