Barion Brown was one of three UK receivers with at last 40 catches this season, the first time that has happened. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Finishing the season 7-6 was not close to the expectation that Kentucky football coaches and players had for this season.
Losses to Missouri, Tennessee, South Carolina and Clemson could so easily have been wins and a nine- or 10-win season was easily within reach.
However, Kentucky has now won at least seven games in seven of the last eight seasons and had wins over No. 22 Florida and No. 9 Louisville during the season, the fourth straight season UK got wins over two ranked teams to give coach Mark Stoops 13 wins against ranked teams — the most of any coach in school history.
Here are other highlights from the 2023 season provided by UK Athletics.
UK went 3-5 in the Southeastern Conference, tying for fourth place in the SEC Eastern Division.
• In the 32 seasons of divisional standings (1992-2023), UK’s highest finish was second place in 2016, 2018 and 2021, all under Coach Stoops.
Kentucky extended its bowl streak to eight consecutive seasons by playing in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl. It is the eighth-longest active streak in the nation.
In addition to extending his school record for wins against ranked opponents, Coach Stoops also improved his UK record for total victories to 73. He has completed 11 seasons at Kentucky and ranks No. 7 in longevity (at his current school) among the coaches in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision.
Offensive Notes
Kentucky averaged 29.1 points per game, an improvement of 8.7 points per game from 2022 (20.4).
UK averaged 339.5 yards per game, an improvement of 14.8 yards per game from 2022 (324.7).
In addition to the blocking for the stats listed above, UK’s offensive line reduced quarterback sacks by more than half, allowing 22 sacks this season after allowing 47 sacks in 2022.
• UK’s O-Line was on the midseason honor roll for the Joe Moore Award, given to the nation’s best offensive line.
• Center Eli Cox was named second-team All-SEC by league coaches and tackle Marques Cox was a third-team All-SEC choice by Phil Steele.
Quarterback Devin Leary threw for 2,746 yards, the ninth-highest single-season mark in Wildcat history. He threw 25 touchdowns passes, entering bowl season second in the SEC in touchdown passes. It is the most TD tosses for a UK quarterback since Andre’ Woodson in 2007.
Running back Ray Davis rushed for 1,129 yards. He leads the SEC in total touchdowns (21) and scoring (9.7 points per game). He was National Player of the Week after running for 280 yards and totaling a school-record-tying four touchdowns in the win over Florida. He is believed to be the first player in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history to rush for at least 1,000 career yards at three schools (Temple, Vanderbilt, Kentucky). For the season, he was named first-team All-SEC by three selectors.
Three wide receivers, Tayvion Robinson, Barion Brown and Dane Key, caught at least 40 passes this season. It is the first time that UK had three players catch at least 40 in a season since 2007. All three went over the 1,000-yard mark in UK career receiving yards this season.
Defensive Notes
Kentucky allowed 25.8 points per game, extending its streak of six straight seasons allowing fewer than 26 points per game. In this era of high-scoring offenses, you have to go back to the 1980s to find six straight seasons of UK allowing fewer than 26 points per game.
• UK kept this streak going despite entering the season with massive personnel losses. UK lost seven players from the ’22 defense (DeAndre Square, Jordan Wright, Jacquez Jones, Carrington Valentine, Keidron Smith, Tyrell Ajian and Justin Rogers) who had combined for 20 seasons of starting experience in the SEC.
Kentucky scored four defensive touchdowns this season, tied for seventh in the nation.
Kentucky allowed 113.1 rushing yards per game this season, ranking 18th in the nation.
For the second straight season, linebacker D’Eryk Jackson led the team in tackles, totaling 89 stops. He also had eight tackles for loss and two pass interceptions, one returned for a touchdown. He was named first-team All-SEC by Pro Football Focus.
Despite battling frequent double teams, defensive lineman Deone Walker led the team in tackles for loss (12.5), quarterback sacks (7.5) and quarterback hurries (8). He was a third-team All-America pick by College Football Network and a first-team All-SEC choice by three outlets.
Linebacker J.J. Weaver was second on the team in tackles for loss (8.5) and QB sacks (7). He won the Howard Schnellenberger Award as the Most Valuable Player of the Governor’s Cup win over Louisville.
Cornerback Maxwell Hairston tied for the SEC lead and was fifth in the nation in interceptions with five. He was National Defensive Player of the Week when he had two interception returns for touchdowns at Vanderbilt. He earned second-team All-SEC from three selectors.
Special Teams Notes
UK was second in the nation in kickoff return average with 30.1 yards per runback. (Worth noting that the NCAA leader, Rutgers, only returned five kickoffs this season with a 33.0-yard average.)
• The 30.1 average broke the UK single-season team record.
Barion Brown led the nation in kickoff returns by averaging 36 yards per runback. In the process, he broke the UK single-season and career records for KO return average.
• Brown returned three kickoffs for touchdowns, breaking the UK single-season and career record (4) for kickoff return TDs. He tied the SEC records in both categories. He was named first-team All-America by The Sporting News and first-team All-SEC by Pro Football Focus and Phil Steele.
Kicker Alex Raynor made 10 of 11 field goals, with his only miss coming from 53 yards. He made 90.9 percent of his field goals. He did not have the minimum number of attempts needed to be officially ranked, but if he had, his percentage would rank seventh in the nation and second in the SEC.
3 Responses
Said in August I’d take 7 wins and a bowl victory . Almost got my wish.
Fans always want more. That’s one of the things I love about college football. It’s easy to say "I want 10 wins next season" or I want another bowl appearance, although with the transfer portal and opt outs, Bowls are becoming less important to me.
My wish list for 2024 season is for the Cats to be "competitive in all of its games. That’s the only way you win the games you are not supposed to win. Put another way, I want consistency. My other want is team discipline. Cut the trash talk and play football. You are not bragging with you can get it done but when you trash talk and get whipped on the next play you look like a clown and make the team look like clowns.
Happy New Year all and here’s hoping for a better season next year.
7 wins is not bad for a Kentucky football team that still gets very little respect. This 2023 team under performed after so much pre season big talk from mostly the coaches as I recall. in fact, the whole UK football program talks a lot and pays for it all the time, and still have much to prove. Fourth in the SEC East won’t cut it either. They need to just shut up in 2024, play football, and one day beat the snot out of Tennessee. That would be something to shout about now! Less talk and more action is the ticket going forward, maybe sneak up on some foes instead of telling the world how great you are. I am through getting my hopes up much though. Good to see a victory over the Cards. Stoops was in a bind somewhat until his team won that one. Why? The South Carolina loss was "stink city." The bowl loss to Clemson was unbelievable. I think 2024 will be a tougher schedule with UT on the road, we’ll see. Wish the best for Ray Davis, hate to see him go.