Hello once again to Big Blue Nation and welcome back to my countdown of the Top 10 Kentucky Football Biggest Victories and Top 10 Kentucky Football Heartbreaking Losses of the past 25 seasons. I am halfway through my lists and ready to start the second half of my countdown, so here it goes with #5:
#5 Biggest Victory: Kentucky 28 Clemson 20 December 29th, 2006 L.P. Field (Music City Bowl)
Kentucky had a 7-5 record entering the game and was playing in their first bowl game since 1999, ironically also the Music City Bowl. Clemson had an 8-4 record going into the game and playing in their second consecutive bowl game after defeating Colorado 19-10 in the previous season’s Champs Sports Bowl. The two schools had a bowl history between them, playing each other in the 1993 Peach Bowl with Clemson coming out victorious 14-13. The ACC representative Tigers were a 10 point favorite going into the bowl game but the Wildcats had other thoughts.
Kentucky received the ball to start the game and didn’t disappoint the sea of blue in Nashville on their first drive. Facing a difficult 3rd and 17, quarterback Andre Woodson hooked up with tight end Jacob Tamme for a 20 yard pass and a crucial first down to keep their drive alive. Six plays later linebacker turned temporary fullback Micah Johnson dived over the defensive line from 1 yard out for the rushing touchdown and the Wildcats took the first lead of the game at 7-0 with eleven minutes left in the first quarter. On Clemson’s first possession on offense, they moved the ball down the field themselves but were finally halted at the Kentucky 20 yard line and kicker Jad Dean had to attempt a 37-yard field goal. Dean was unsuccessful on the try and Kentucky’s lead remained at 7-0 with eight minutes left in the first quarter. After Kentucky couldn’t muster any offense on their next drive, they punted the ball to the Tigers and once again Clemson was moving the ball down the field. And once again, after getting inside the 10 at Kentucky’s 9 yard line, Clemson had to resort to another field goal attempt, this time 28 yards. Dean missed the field goal again and the Wildcats held on to their 7-0 going into the second quarter.
On Clemson’s first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, running back James Davis fumbled the ball and defensive lineman Jamil Paris and recovered it for Kentucky and the momentum was fully in the Wildcats favor, or so they thought. After another ineffective drive, Kentucky was going to punt the ball back to Clemson, but kicker Tim Masthay’s punt was blocked and finally the Tigers didn’t waste an opportunity. On the third play of the drive quarterback Will Proctor threw a 32 yard touchdown strike to tight end Durrell Berry. But Clemson continued to have kicking woes as kicker John Early missed the extra point and Kentucky still had the lead at 7-6 with eight minutes left in the second quarter. Then came some absolute wackiness from both teams. On Kentucky’s first play from scrimmage after Clemson’s touchdown, running back Rafael Little fumbled the ball and Clemson’s Maurice Nelson recovered it for the Tigers at Kentucky’s 19 yard line. Clemson then went for a touchdown on the very next play, but Proctor’s pass was amazingly intercepted by cornerback Trevard Lindley in the endzone and Kentucky quickly had the ball back at their own 20 yard line. Then on Kentucky’s third play of the drive Woodson completed a pass to Jacob Tamme but he fumbled the ball as well and Clemson recovered the football at Kentucky’s 29 yard line. On Clemson’s second play on their drive Proctor completed a pass to wide receiver Chansi Stuckey but he fumbled himself and Lindley recovered the ball for the Wildcats at Kentucky’s 14 yard line. For those of you keeping score that was four turnovers in seven snaps from scrimmage. Kentucky then settled down on offense, didn’t turn it over, but faced a 4th and 4 on their own 20 yard line. Rich Brooks usually wasn’t much of a gambler but he definitely pulled a trick from his sleeve when punter Tim Masthay faked the punt and threw a pass to safety Marcus McClinton and got 10 yards for the first down. The Wildcats didn’t waste any time after the fake punt when Woodson threw a 70 yard bomb to wide receiver DeMoreo Ford and Kentucky’s lead grew to 14-6 with two minutes left in the second quarter. After a Clemson 3-and-out Kentucky got the ball back with some time to do some damage. On 3rd and 10 on their own 31 yard line, Woodson connected on a 51 yard pass to wide receiver Steve Johnson and that set up a 36-yard field goal by kicker Lones Seiber on the last play of the second quarter. Seiber missed the kick though and Kentucky’s lead remained at 14-6 heading into the locker room.
Clemson received the ball to start the second half and once again were moving the ball on offense. But on the tenth play of their drive Proctor was sacked by linebacker Wesley Woodyard and forced him to fumble and the ball was recovered by the Wildcats. Kentucky took advantage of the turnover on their very next drive. On 3rd and 3 Woodson connected on a 19 yard pass with Tamme and the drive stayed alive. On the sixth play of the drive Woodson threw a 24 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Dicky Lyons, Jr. and that grew Kentucky’s lead to 21-6 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. After both teams exchanged punts Clemson had the ball going into the fourth quarter.
Clemson was forced to punt on their first possession of the final quarter and all-purpose threat Rafael Little returned the punt 47 yards to Clemson’s 28 yard line. The Wildcats took advantage of the great special teams play when Woodson threw a 13 yard touchdown pass to Tamme on the fourth play of the drive. Just like that Kentucky had full control of the game, leading 28-6 with eleven and a half minutes left in the game. But with Clemson’s back against the wall they responded. On the eleventh play of the Tigers’ ensuing possession, Proctor completed an 18 yard touchdown pass to Tyler Grisham. Clemson attempted a 2-point conversion but was unsuccessful as Kentucky’s lead was cut to 28-12 with seven and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. On Kentucky’s next drive they faced a 4th and 15 on Clemson’s 26 yard line. Brooks elected not to try a 43-yard field goal attempt and went for the first down but Woodson’s pass to Lyons was incomplete and Clemson got the ball back and starting to gain momentum. Clemson responded on the ninth play of their drive when Proctor connected with wide receiver Aaron Kelly on a 17 yard touchdown pass. The Tigers attempted a 2-point conversion and were successful on the try and all of a sudden Kentucky’s seemingly untouchable 28-6 lead had been cut to 28-20 with 40 seconds left in the game. Clemson had no other choice but to attempt an onside kick to regain possession of the ball. The Tigers were unsuccessful on the kick though as Kentucky recovered the kick and after one quarterback kneel the game was officially over. Kentucky won 28-20 and the Wildcats were the
2006 Music City Bowl champions.
Quarterback Andre Woodson was the offensive star of the game for the Wildcats, completing 20 of 28 passes for 299 yards and 3 touchdowns. Kentucky did a great job on defense containing the great dynamic duo of running backs for Clemson, James Davis and C.J. Spiller, holding them to a combined 77 yards rushing. Both schools were fairly even on offense, 409 yards for Kentucky and 402 yards for Clemson, but it was the four turnovers by the Tigers that did them in. It was Kentucky’s first victory in a bowl game since defeating #19 Wisconsin 20-19 at the 1984 Hall Of Fame Bowl. Both Kentucky and Clemson finished the season with 8-5 records.
#5 Heartbreaking Loss: Kentucky 13 #24 Clemson 14 December 31st, 1993 Georgia Dome (Peach Bowl)
Kentucky was 6-5 heading into the 1993 Peach Bowl, but was embarrassed by border rival Tennessee 48-0 in the regular season finale leading up to the game. It was also Kentucky’s first appearance in a bowl game since the 1984 Hall Of Fame Bowl, a 20-19 defeat of #19 Wisconsin. Clemson was 8-3 going into the game, ranked #24 in the latest AP Poll, and riding a two game winning streak. It was Clemson’s first bowl game since the 1991 Citrus Bowl, a 37-13 loss to California. The last time Kentucky and Clemson played each other was in 1985 and the Wildcats were victorious 26-7.
Kentucky received the ball to start the game and under a new look offense implemented by head coach Bill Curry the Wildcats moved the ball efficiently down the field. Facing a 1st and goal at the 2 yard line, quarterback Pookie Jones threw a pass to wide receiver Alfonzo Browning at the 1 yard line and he stretched the football toward the goal line for the touchdown. Upon stretching Browning lost control of the ball and fumbled and there was a mad scramble for the ball. Clemson linebacker Tim Jones recovered the football for the Tigers on the 1 yard line. Replays at the Georgia Dome actually showed that the football had crossed the goal line prior to Browning losing control of the ball but unfortunately there was no instant replay challenges in college football at the time. Clemson took advantage of the Wildcats’ turnover by going on a methodical, efficient drive. On the 18th play of their drive, fullback Emory Smith ran into the endzone from 2 yards out and Clemson had the first lead of the game at 7-0. On Clemson’s next offensive possession though the Wildcats defense stepped it up. Quarterback Patrick Sapp’s pass was intercepted by Kentucky’s Adrian Sherwood and the Wildcats were on the move. Kentucky went on a methodical, efficient drive of themselves and had a 1st and goal on the 10 yard line. Facing a 4th and goal on the 1 yard line, head coach Bill Curry elected not to kick a field goal and go for the touchdown instead. Running back Moe Williams took the handoff from Jones but was stopped for no gain and for the second time in the first quarter the Wildcats got inside the 5 yard line and had no points to show for it.
In the second quarter neither team could get their offense to effectively move the ball, but the Wildcats were able to finally put points up on the board. Although they didn’t get inside the 5 yard line, Kentucky did connect on a 34-yard field goal by kicker Nicky Nickels and Clemson’s lead was cut to 7-3. The score remained at 7-3 heading into the locker room. The third quarter was more of the same as the second quarter. Both defenses continued to be stifling as neither team was able to put points up on the board and the score still remained at 7-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter finally saw some productive offense. On Kentucky’s first drive of the quarter Pookie Jones rolled out and threw a 5 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mark Chatmon and Kentucky had their first lead of the game at 10-7 with a little under thirteen minutes remaining in the game. The Wildcats, on their next offensive possession, provided another offensive spark that resulted in another field goal by Nickels, this time 26 yards, and Kentucky expanded their lead to 13-7 with about seven and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. A booming 55 yard punt by Kentucky kicker Dan Ariza pinned the Tigers back at their own 18 yard line, down by 6 points and just under four minutes left in the game. On the second play of their drive Clemson, whose offense was dormant since their 99 yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, finally got the big play that they needed. Quarterback Patrick Sapp threw a screen pass to fullback Emory Smith, he broke a tackle, and rumbled 57 yards all the way down to Kentucky’s 25 yard line. Six plays later, and with less than a minute left in the game, Sapp threw a pass that was intercepted by Kentucky linebacker Marty Moore at the 5 yard line, practically sealing the bowl victory for the Wildcats. Instead of falling on the ball and securing a Kentucky win, Moore elected to run with the ball with open field in his sights. Unfortunately, Clemson running back Rodney Blunt hit Moore on his blind side and the ball popped loose with offensive tackle Brent LeJeune recovering the football for the Tigers. Three plays after the stunning turn of events quarterback Sapp was forced out of the pocket but found a way to connect on a 21 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Terry Smith and with only 20 seconds left in the game Clemson had amazingly taken the lead at 14-13. Kentucky had one last hope to win the game but couldn’t advance the ball past their own 40 yard line as the clock expired and the Clemson Tigers won the 1993 Peach Bowl 14-13.
It was so heartbreaking to see a play like the fumble late in the fourth quarter happen to such a great, tough player with a lot of heart like linebacker Marty Moore. Marty was devastated after the game as you could tell by his post-game comment: “I went from hero to chump. I made a great play and then I fumbled it. I’ll be remembered as the guy who lost the Peach Bowl.” The coaches felt Moore’s pain as well, as head coach Bill Curry added after the game “Any loss is tough, but this one is particularly tough. I can’t even express how I feel for Marty. He was our stalwart, our leader. To have the game in his hands like that, to have to deal with that. I feel terrible for him.”
Be sure to check back tomorrow to see what the #4 games will be on my countdown of the Top 10 Kentucky Football Biggest Victories and Top 10 Kentucky Football Heartbreaking Losses. Here are links to the first five installments of my countdown:
Kentucky Football: The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #10
Kentucky Football: The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #9
Kentucky Football: The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #8
Kentucky Football: The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #7
Kentucky Football: The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #6
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