Kentucky completes its best season since 1977 by beating Penn State

Hell of a year, Wildcats!

The Kentucky Wildcats won the 2019 Citrus Bowl by beating the Penn State Nittany Lions 27-24 on New Year’s Day. Although the Wildcats entered as slight underdogs to the No. 12 ranked Nittany Lions, Kentucky won to put an exclamation point on a dream 10-3 season for the Wildcats.

It’s been a historic 2018 season for Kentucky, the likes of which haven’t been seen in Lexington since 1977.

When former Wildcat head coach Frank Curci led his team to a 10-1 finish, UK finished ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll. This is the second 10-win season for UK since that season. It all started with UK’s historic win over Florida, snapping the Gators’ 31-game win streak over the Wildcats, which was the longest active win streak in the NCAA.

The Wildcats followed that with a 28-7 win over then-No. 14 Mississippi State, and a win over South Carolina to put them at 5-0. Even early on in the year, you could tell this was going to be a special year:

Kentucky’s wins against Florida and Mississippi State gave it a two-game winning streak against then-ranked opponents, the first time UK has done that since winning five straight in 1976-77. Kentucky put a three-touchdown beating on Mississippi State in Week 4, its largest margin of victory against a top-15 team since 1973. And the Wildcats are still rolling after beating the Gamecocks.

Additionally!

• Kentucky went 5-0 for the first time since 2007, having just beaten South Carolina, 24-10. 2007! That was 11 years ago!
• The Wildcats were nationally ranked for the first time since November of that year.

UK lost (expectedly) to Georgia, Texas A&M, and Tennessee, but those don’t dampen what was a hell of a year for Wildcat fans.

And all the credit goes to head coach Mark Stoops, who is in his sixth year in Lexington. Doing what he did after five years usually doesn’t work out in the SEC, which even further proves that panic-firing your coach doesn’t always pay off. Let my colleague Steven Godfrey explain:

Except that unlike those programs, Kentucky and head coach Mark Stoops got here really slowly, and in the SEC that usually gets you fired.

That and the style of football they’re playing — a really good defense (third in Defensive S&P+) spelling a great offensive line and run game— has made them a topic of conversation among coaches and athletic directors.

Mark Stoops’ plan to build the Wildcats into a contender took six seasons, the first three with finishes under .500 (2-10 in a 2013 debut). That’s a lifetime of patience in modern college football and an eternity in the SEC.

“I’m not sure you could last anywhere else in the league with that kind of track record, except Vanderbilt,” an SEC assistant coach told SB Nation.

“But it was the right move all the way. That’s what’s interesting. Will it get other programs to reevaluate firing guys after three years? Maybe not. But if they beat Georgia and go to Atlanta, it’s a hell of an argument for letting coaches build out a roster over a long period.”

As for Tuesday’s game itself, Kentucky’s defense almost gave up the lead late, but held the Nittany Lions to a field goal to maintain a three-point lead late in the game. The offense managed to then run out the clock to put the cap on an incredible year. Wildcat running back Benny Snell Jr., who will likely enter the 2019 NFL Draft, finished with 144 yards and two touchdowns. He was crucial in getting first downs and letting UK run out the clock late in the game, too.

“We’re legends,” Snell Jr. said postgame to ESPN’s Laura Rutledge about how this team will be remembered. “We’re all legends in our own way.”

Sure, Penn State would have liked to win this one, especially Nittany Lions QB Trace McSorley, who played in the second half on a broken foot. James Franklin’s team still finishes 9-4, but missing out on the Big Ten Championship for two straight season certainly isn’t where he wants his teams to be.

Congrats on your incredible, unforgettable season, Kentucky!