Numbers Show That Kentucky Might be Able to Challenge Georgia

Vicky Graff Photo

Numbers won’t mean a lot once Kentucky gets on the field against No. 1 Georgia but numbers matter today and there are some really impressive numbers for this Kentucky football team and coach Mark Stoops.

Since Stoops’ record dropped to 12-16 after a loss to Florida in 2016, the Cats have put together a record of 59-33 — a 64 percent winning mark — and now have three straight wins over Florida for the first time since 1951.

Kentucky moved up to No. 20 in this week’s Associated Press rankings, its first time in the top 25 this year. From 1957-2017, Kentucky made 31 appearances total in the AP weekly rankings. Since 2018, UK has been ranked 32 weeks in the poll.

Wait. It gets better. Kentucky has now appeared in the AP poll at least once for four straight years, the best streak since coach Paul “Bear” Bryant had UK ranked five straight seasons from 1949-53.

The Wildcats also had only 10 wins over top 25 teams from 1978-2014. Since 2015, UK has 12 wins over ranked teams, including the most recent one over Florida and will have more chances this season because UK still has to play No. 1 Georgia (5-0), No. 11 Alabama (4-1), No. 21 Missouri (5-0) and No. 22 Tennessee (4-1). The Cats also have a game left with Louisville (5-0) and the Cards could be ranked by the time they play UK if they keep winning.

Stoops came to UK after being a defensive coordinator at Florida State. He now has one of the nation’s best defensive coordinators, Brad White, working for him. The defensive numbers show that:

– No. 1 in defensive TDs (3)
– No. 9 in rushing defense (75.8 yards per game)
– No. 20 in scoring defense (15.5 points per game)
– No. 20 in total defense (293.2 yards per game)
– No. 23 in takeaways (8)

The UK defense has not allowed a player to rush for 50 yards in the last six games, a mark that will be severely tested against Georgia.

Only seven teams — Kentucky, Miami, Michigan, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Texas A&M — rank in the top 25 nationally in both offensive and defensive efficiency.

Only Kentucky, Georgia, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and UCLA are in the top 20 in both most yards per play on offense and fewest yards per play allowed on defense.

So what do the numbers mean? Maybe nothing or maybe that Kentucky truly does have at least a legitimate chance to win at Georgia Saturday night.