Hello again to all those Kentucky football fanatics out there. Today will be the third installment of my countdowns of the Top 10 Kentucky Football Biggest Victories and Top 10 Kentucky Heartbreaking Losses of the past 25 seasons, #8 in each list. Let’s see what you think of these games:
#8 Biggest Victory: Kentucky 24 Georgia 20 November 4th, 2006 Commonwealth StadiumKentucky came into the game with a .500 record of 4-4, including a 34-31 win over Mississippi State the previous week. Georgia, the defending SEC Champions, had a 6-3 record coming into the game, losing to Florida 21-14 the week before. The Bulldogs had our number for quite some time, winning the last 9 meetings against the Wildcats, including an embarrassing 62-17 loss in 2004, the last time they faced off in Commonwealth Stadium. But Georgia had a true freshman quarterback starting in Matthew Stafford so anything could be possible.
The Wildcats opened up the scoring with a 48 yard field goal by kicker Lones Seiber with about 5 minutes left in the first quarter. Then the Bulldogs quickly took control of the game by scoring two touchdowns in a span of about three minutes. Georgia marched down the field on a long 92 yard drive that ended with a 10 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matthew Stafford to receiver Mario Riley with less than half a minute left in the first quarter. On Kentucky’s ensuing possession quarterback Andre Woodson threw an interception and Tra Battle returned it to the one yard line. Fullback Brannan Southerland ran in for the score with 12:30 left in the second quarter and the Bulldogs suddenly had a 14-3 lead. But the Wildcats responded on the ensuing possession when Woodson hooked up with wide receiver Keenan Burton on a 5 yard touchdown pass with 8 minutes left in the second quarter, cutting Georgia’s lead to 14-10. Later on in the quarter was a bizarre sequence of plays. After Kentucky downed their punt at the 1 yard line, quarterback Matthew Stafford went for a pass in his own endzone and was intercepted by linebacker Johnny Williams and returned it to the 1 yard line. With the Wildcats only 3 feet from a touchdown, quarterback Andre Woodson threw an interception himself, picked off by Tony Taylor, on 3rd down. Kentucky went into the locker room trailing 14-10 at the half.
The third quarter was fairly uneventful, but had a couple special teams mistakes. Kentucky, facing a 4th and 5 on Georgia’s 20 yard line, was in formation for a 37 yard field goal. But, the Wildcats tried for a fake field goal but kicker Lones Seiber couldn’t handle the snap and fumbled the ball and Georgia’s Tony Taylor recovered it. On the ensuing possession, Kentucky’s defense forced a 4th and 9 on their 30 yard line and the Bulldogs attempted a 47 yard field goal but kicker Andy Bailey missed it. Georgia was still clinging onto a 14-10 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Kentucky opened up the scoring in the fourth quarter with yet another Woodson to Burton connection, this time a 10 yard touchdown pass with about 8 and a half minutes left in the game as the Wildcats regained the lead 17-14. Once again the Bulldogs answered a Kentucky score with a score of their own. Running back Danny Ware ran in from 3 yards for a touchdown, but Andy Bailey’s extra point was blocked and Georgia’s lead was 20-14 with about 4 and a half minutes left in the game. Then, for a crucial drive, head coach Rich Brooks went to running back Tony Dixon, who hadn’t been used much in the game up to that point due to a hamstring injury he sustained in practice that week. But Dixon proved to be the hero as he caught 2 passes for 11 yards and ran the ball 4 times for 32 yards on that drive. The most important run being on 2nd and goal on the 3 yard line, Tony ran right up the middle for the go-ahead score with Kentucky leading 24-20 with a little over one minute left in the game. Feeling pressured to score quickly, Matthew Stafford showed off his true freshman colors and overthrew one of his receivers and cornerback Trevard Lindley intercepted the pass, cementing the victory for the Wildcats. After a couple of Andre Woodson quarterback kneels, the victory was official and thousands of fans rushed the field and tore down the goal post. The only other time that the goal posts were taken down at Commonwealth Stadium was the Alabama game in 1997. I was actually one of the thousands of fans that rushed the field towards the goal post, I was a junior at UK at the time.
The star for the Wildcats on offense was wide receiver Keenan Burton, with 7 receptions for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kentucky gained momentum from the game and used it to win 3 of their last 4 games of that season, including defeating Clemson in the Music City Bowl, and finished the season with an 8-5 record. The Bulldogs won their last 3 games of the season and ended 2006 with a 9-4 record.
#8 Heartbreaking Loss: Kentucky 22 #8 Mississippi State 23 – November 4th, 1999 Davis Wade Stadium
Kentucky traveled down to Starkville for a rare Thursday night game for the Wildcats in front of a national tv audience on ESPN2. The Wildcats were 5-3 going into the game, including a 49-34 defeat at the hands of Georgia about two weeks earlier. Mississippi State came into the game undefeated with an 8-0 record and ranked 8th in the AP Poll, but narrowly escaped defeat with a 17-16 victory over LSU about two weeks earlier. Kentucky defeated the Bulldogs in thrilling fashion 37-35 at Commonwealth Stadium in their previous meeting in 1998. So, needless to say, Mississippi State wanted revenge on their home field. The game was a matchup of Kentucky’s pass-happy offense against Mississippi State’s top defense in the nation. Something had to give in this contest.
Mississippi State opened up the scoring in the first quarter with a 12 yard touchdown run by running back Dicenzo Miller and had the first lead of the game at 7-0 with about 8 minutes left in the quarter. The Wildcats responded well with a flurry of scoring, blitzing the Bulldogs for three touchdowns in a span of about five and a half minutes. The first score was a 4 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Dusty Bonner to running back Kendrick Shanklin, but the ensuing extra point was blocked by defensive lineman Toby Golliday . After Kentucky’s defense forced a 3-and-out on Mississippi State’s ensuing possession, linebacker Dennis Johnson blocked the kicker Jeff Walker’s punt an
d the Wildcats had the ball on the 1 yard line after Walker illegally kicked the ball out of the endzone. Three plays later, Dusty Bonner did a quarterback sneak from one yard out and scored a touchdown, but failed on a 2-point conversion. After another quick 3-and-out for the Bulldogs offense, the Wildcats scored yet again on a 6 yard touchdown run by running back Anthony White. After those 5 and a half minutes, Kentucky took the lead at 19-7. Mississippi State answered Kentucky’s scoring flurry with a score of their own, a one yard touchdown run by running back Justin Griffith and cut the Wildcat lead to 19-14, and that was the score as both teams went into the locker room at halftime.
The Wildcats added to their lead on the opening drive of the second half, capping off a 50 yard drive with a 39-yard field goal by kicker Marc Samuel with 10 minutes left in the third quarter and the lead now at 22-14. The Bulldogs clawed back into the game with a 6 yard touchdown run by running back Dontae Walker with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter. Mississippi State tried to tie the game at that point and attempted a 2-point conversion but failed and Kentucky still held onto the lead at 22-20. Kentucky’s defense stiffened up after that touchdown as the Wildcats allowed just 14 total yards over the next 14 offensive plays for Mississippi State. Unfortunately, the Wildcats couldn’t do much on offense themselves in the fourth quarter and Mississippi State started a drive on their own 20 yard line with a minute and a half left in the game. Backup quarterback Matt Wyatt came into the game for injured quarterback Wayne Madkin for that drive.
The Bulldogs marched on down the field before a controversial play. With Mississippi State facing a 2nd and 11 on Kentucky’s 25 yard line, quarterback Wyatt completed a pass to wide receiver Matt Butler. But, the Bulldogs were out of timeouts, there was less than 25 seconds left in the game, and Butler knew that he was going to be tackled inbounds, hence the clock would not stop. So Butler decides to intentionally throw the ball out of bounds, thus stopping the clock. After a few minutes of debate between the referees, they decided to penalize Mississippi State with an illegal forward pass, and the ball was placed on Kentucky’s 28 yard line. The Bulldogs then had time for kicker Scott Westerfield, who missed a field goal earlier in the fourth quarter, to set up for a game-winning field goal. And from 45 yards out Westerfield made the field goal just inside the right upright with only 5 seconds left in the game and Mississippi State defeated Kentucky 23-22.
The game was anything but a masterpiece of college football. The two teams combined for 57 rushing yards, including an unthinkable -13 yards for Kentucky, 5 turnovers, and 30 penalties, including 19 penalties for Mississippi State. But there was one bright spot for Kentucky coming out of the game. Tight end James Whalen had 11 receptions for 99 yards in the game, giving him 78 receptions on the season. That set a NCAA Division I record for most receptions in a single season by a tight end, breaking the previous record of 73 receptions by Utah’s Dennis Smith in 1989. Kentucky won one of their last three games that season, including a loss in the Music City Bowl, and finished the season with a .500 record of 6-6. Mississippi State lost two of their last four games of the season, but defeated Clemson in the Peach Bowl, and finished the season with a 10-2 record.
Here are the links for the first two installments of my countdowns, and don’t forget to check back in tomorrow for the #7 games on my list:
The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #10
The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #9
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