10 Things We Love About Kentucky Football

By Eric Lindsey, UK Media Relations

We love Kentucky football. In fact, we can’t get enough. So what if it’s the spring and we’re still more than four months away from kicking off the 2009 season? Let’s put on the pads and play now.

Well, the Wildcats are doing exactly that at the Nutter Training Facility as they gear up for the 2009 season. UK is just past the midway mark of its four-week spring practice, which got us thinking: What are the 10 things we love most about Kentucky football? Here they are (in no particular order):

1. Bowl games – Bowl games and Kentucky have become synonymous over the last three years. For the first time since the 1949-51 seasons, the Wildcats have been to three consecutive bowl games. Kentucky has journeyed to the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., twice, beating Clemson in 2006 and Florida State in 2007, before pulling off a come-from-behind win in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tenn., in January, bringing the 2008 season to a victorious end. In winning three straight bowl games, Kentucky is one of just 11 teams that have won three or more straight bowl games. And, when Kentucky reaches a bowl game, the Wildcats are in it to win it.  UK’s bowl-game winning percentage is .615, seventh-best in NCAA history among teams that have played in at least 13 bowl games.
2. The big plays – Kentucky has had a knack for coming up with highlight-reel plays. Whether it’s quadruple-overtime games against Tennessee, a heartbreaking Hail Mary against Louisiana State or last-second field goals, the Wildcats have made the fans in the Bluegrass State skip a few heartbeats over the last decade. But the biggest game-changing plays came during the 2007 season. Facing archrival Louisville, the No. 9 ranked team in the nation, quarterback André Woodson threw a picture-perfect 57-yard pass to a streaking Steve Johnson down the left sideline for a historic win. Not even two months later, UK welcomed top-ranked LSU to Commonwealth Stadium. In a dramatic triple-overtime game with the Tigers, linebacker Braxton Kelley stuffed the LSU running back on fourth-and-two to topple the No. 1 team in the nation for only the second time in school history.
3. The conference – No other conference possesses the toughness, grit and treachery quite like the Southeastern Conference. When you face the likes of Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee on a weekly basis, there are no weeks off. That’s prompted most national pundits to call it the best conference in the country. But that’s a good thing. The last three national champions have all come from the SEC, and SEC teams have played and won more bowl games than any other conference. Plus, no other conference can offer the type of schedule that the SEC can. With powerhouse opponents on the slate every week, Kentucky fans can expect huge games every single weekend.
4. Game Day – Saturdays in the fall are more than just football. It’s about tailgating, it’s about the fans and it’s about having a good time. Kentucky fans are so serious about their football that dozens of campers set up their RVs the night before just to stake out a spot in the Commonwealth Stadium parking lot. On the day of the game, fans flood the surrounding land of the stadium as far as a half-mile away. Whether it’s tossing the pigskin, grilling food or playing cornhole, a local favorite, Kentucky fans know how to have fun before the game. Once it’s game time, fans flock to …
5. Commonwealth Stadium – On Saturday afternoons in the fall, Commonwealth Stadium turns into a sea of blue. The largest football stadium in the state, Commonwealth Stadium is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the more hostile environments in the country. Fans pack the stadium weekly, so much so that on game day, the 67,942-seat stadium usually becomes the third-largest city in Kentucky. Fans have helped Kentucky break every school record for attendance over the last two seasons and UK has become a perennial name in the nation’s top-25 attendance averages. Former Kentucky linebacker Terry Clayton, who is deaf, could not hear the crowd noise at Commonwealth Stadium when he played. “But,” Clayton said, “I can feel the rumble.”
6. The players – Whether you’re talking about George Blanda or Dermontti Dawson, Kentucky has had its fair share of greats. Even with all the legends, it’s hard to imagine a more impressive crop of players than UK has produced over the last 15 years. Fan favorites like Craig Yeast, Artose Pinner, Derek Abney, Wesley Woodyard and Sweet Pea Burns have put on the blue and white during the last two decades, and that’s just the start. UK has seen offensive juggernauts like Tim Couch, Jared Lorenzen and André Woodson suit up. Kentucky has churned out players like it’s an NFL factory. Fifteen players have been selected in the NFL draft since 1999 – that’s not including several players who have signed as undrafted free agents – and Couch was selected with the first overall pick in the 1999 draft.
7. Rich Brooks – Kentucky’s recent football success following the arrival of Coach Rich Brooks hasn’t been a coincidence. He’s been the man behind the triumph. After taking over the program on Dec. 30, 2002, Brooks took a team that was burdened by the effects of severe NCAA probationand turned it around. After three years of patient coaching and tireless recruiting, Brooks’ squad had a breakthrough season in 2006, the start of three straight bowl winning seasons. The only other UK coach to accomplish that feat? The legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. Brooks was recently named to the Northern California Sports Association Hall of Fame, and he has one of the best staffs in the nation with head coach of the offense Joker Phillips, offensive coordinator Randy Sanders and defensive coordinator Steve Brown behind him.
8. The rivalry – Nothing makes fans’ blood boil in the Bluegrass State quite like the UK-Louisville rivalry. Whether you’re talking about football or basketball, few rivalries can match the intensity, competitiveness and excitement of the two biggest universities in the Commonwealth. Despite the tradition of the rivalry, the teams have only met 21 times in football with Kentucky holding a 12-9 edge, including winning the last two. Nicknamed the Governor’s Cup, the rivalry went on a 70-year hiatus before being re-introduced in 1994. Some of the more dramatic games include a 40-34 overtime Louisville win in 2000 and a thrilling 40-34 UK victory in Commonwealth Stadium in 2007 on a game-winning Steve Johnson touchdown catch.
9. The Cat Walk – Before the Wildcats take the field, fans, friends and family of the players greet the team when it arrives at the stadium. In what’s quickly becoming a weekly tradition, thousands of fans cheer on the Wildcats as they make their march from the Nutter Field House into Commonwealth Stadium. The original Cat Walk began in the early 1990s, but the fan participation and experience has been heightened since the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl in 2006. The Cat Walk has drawn as many as 7,000 fans for some of the bigger games, and has even taken its act on the road.
10. The tradition - Kentucky holds a rich and proud football heritage. From its first All-American, Clyde Johnson, to its most recent, Trevard Lindley, Kentucky football has a unique and storied tradition that began in 1881. Among its many firsts: UK was the first Southeastern Conference team to introduce football (1881), had the first player to win the 1950 Outland Trophy (tackle Bob Gain) and the Wildcats’ Nat Northington was the first African-American player to sign with an SEC institution and first to play in a league game. UK football has won one national championship, two SEC championships and has appeared in 13 bowls.

The spring football season has a little more than a week left before concluding with the annual Blue/White Spring Game on April 25 at 1:30 p.m. inside Commonwealth Stadium. The Wildcats will kick off the 2009 season Sept. 5 in Cincinnati against Miami (Ohio).