Hello again Wildcat football fanatics 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. We’re getting down to the nitty gritty as today I will be reliving the #3 games in my countdown. Here they are:
#3 Biggest Victory: Kentucky 10 Florida 3 – November 15th, 1986 Commonwealth Stadium
Kentucky came into the game with a 4-4-1 record, defeating Vanderbilt 34-22 in the previous week. Florida entered the game with a 5-4 record and riding a 4 game win streak headed into the contest. But it was Florida that had Kentucky’s number of late, winning 16 of the last 20 meetings between the two schools, including the last 6 meetings by a combined score of 153-77. But it was Senior Day at Commonwealth Stadium and head coach Jerry Claiborne wanted his 19 seniors to go out on a good note.
Kentucky got the first break of the game via special teams late in the first quarter. Wildcats wide receiver and return specialist Cornell Burbage returned Florida’s punt 35 yards to the Gators’ 32 yard line and Kentucky’s offense only had a short field to go for a score. But the Wildcats faced a 4th and 1 on the 4 yard line, and instead of attempting a field goal, head coach Jerry Claiborne elected to go for the first down. Fullback Marc Logan took a pitch around the right side of the line and ran 3 yards to the 1 yard line, keeping the drive alive. On the very next play, running back Mark Higgs, starting in place of injured starter Ivy Joe Hunter, ran into the endzone from a yard out and the Wildcats took the first lead of the game at 7-0 with just over one minute remaining in the first quarter. Kentucky got lucky on the defensive side of the ball on Florida’s next offensive possession. Just 29 seconds after Kentucky’s touchdown, Florida running back James Massey fumbled the football and Kentucky’s Mike Velotta recovered the football at the Florida 31 yard line, once again having a short field to go for a score. But after a sack on third down Kentucky had to settle for a long 51-yard field goal attempt. Unfortunately kicker Joey Worley’s attempt sailed wide left and Kentucky’s lead remained at 7-0 and couldn’t capitalize on the short field.
Kentucky’s offense fueled another great drive early in the second quarter. But, facing a 4th and inches inside the Florida 30 yard line, Claiborne elected to gamble and go for the first down yet again. The Gator defense wasn’t fooled this time as they stuffed Kentucky’s run attempt and the Wildcats had to give up the ball to Florida. The Wildcats had yet another scoring chance late in the second quarter. Kentucky had produced an efficient drive on offense and reached Florida’s 26 yard line, even after two holding penalties during the drive. But the drive was finally halted and the Wildcats had to attempt yet another field goal. Once again, Worley missed the field goal attempt, this time 42 yards and wide right, and Kentucky’s lead remained at 7-0. The Kentucky defense was stout the entire first half, never allowing Florida to effectively move the ball, until their final drive of the half. The Wildcat defense had used the blitz to pressure and confuse Gators quarterback Kerwin Bell and it had been working. But on one blitz Bell finally outsmarted Kentucky’s defense and connected on a pass to wide receiver Darrell Woulard and he raced 65 yards towards the endzone. Luckily Woulard was caught from behind by Kentucky safety Ron Robinson at the 5 yard line, saving the Gators from tying the game. Florida couldn’t move the ball once they got to the 5 yard line and the Gators elected to attempt a 22-yard field goal. Kicker Jeff Dawson was successful on the try and Kentucky’s lead was cut to 7-3 late in the second quarter. The score remained at 7-3 when both teams headed into the locker room at halftime. Kentucky’s defense was absolutely dominant in the first half, allowing only three first downs to Florida and, excluding the 65 yard pass, gave up just 46 yards of total offense.
It seems as though neither team made any adjustments at halftime as both squads couldn’t produce any sustaining offensive drives at all in the third quarter. But the Wildcats finally moved the ball methodically on a drive early in the fourth quarter. The drive was halted though at Florida’s 17 yard line and Claiborne elected to attempt the 34-yard field goal even though Worley was wide on his previous two attempts. This time Worley was successful on his try and the Wildcats extended their lead to 10-3 in the fourth quarter. Kentucky’s defense stepped up once again. Facing a 4th and 6 on Kentucky’s 31 yard line, the Gators elected to not attempt a long 48-yard field goal attempt and instead went for the first down. But Bell was pressured and threw a desperation pass that was short of his receiver and another Florida drive ended up nowhere. Florida got the ball back after a Kentucky punt at their own 17 yard line with one minute remaining in the game and what was seemingly their last chance to tie the game. But, the Gators offense finally got hot at the right time. Bell, who was only 4 of 21 passing leading up to that possession, completed consecutive passes of 17 and 15 yards and all of a sudden Florida had a first down right at midfield. On the very next play, Bell connected with wide receiver Ricky Nattiel around the 21 yard line, but Kentucky defensive back Tony Mayes knocked the ball loose from Nattiel and Mayes recovered the fumble with only twenty seconds remaining in the game. Quarterback Bill Ransdell took one knee and the game was officially over with the Wildcats winning 10-3.
Lost in the stellar performance of Kentucky’s defense was quarterback Bill Ransdell. He set a school single-game completion percentage record, connecting on 20 of his 23 pass attempts. The other key to the game was Kentucky’s ability to keep their offense on the field and control the pace of the game. The Wildcats had the ball for a whopping 41 minutes while the Gators only had the ball for 19 minutes. Kentucky lost their season finale to Tennessee the following week and ending 1986 with a 5-5-1 record. Florida defeated intra-state rival Florida State two weeks later to finish their season with a 6-5 record.
#3 Heartbreaking Loss: Kentucky 20 #7 Florida 24 – September 11th, 1993 Commonwealth Stadium
Kentucky entered the game with a 1-0 record, w
inning their season opener 35-0 against Kent State the week before. Florida also had a 1-0 record entering the game, defeating Arkansas State 44-6 in their season opener in the previous week. The Gators were also the defending SEC East champions and ranked #7 in the latest AP Poll. And, since Kentucky’s victory over Florida in 1986, the Gators had won the previous 6 meetings between the two schools by a combined score of 206-121. Not to mention the fact that Florida embarrassed Kentucky 47-15 in their previous meeting at Commonwealth Stadium in 1990 and the Wildcats wanted revenge.
Florida received the ball to start the game and used head coach Steve Spurrier’s pass-happy offense to their advantage. The Gators moved the ball down the field efficiently, but were finally halted at Kentucky’s 14 yard line. Facing a 4th down, Florida attempted a 31-yard field goal attempt and kicker Shayne Edge was successful on the try and the Gators had the first lead of the game at 3-0 with nine and a half minutes left in the first quarter. The Wildcats couldn’t muster much offense on their first drive and punted the ball back to the Gators. But Kentucky’s defense provided a spark for the Wildcats. On 1st and 10 on their own 37 yard line, Florida quarterback Terry Dean threw a pass that was intercepted by Kentucky safety Marcus Jenkins and he returned it to Kentucky’s 45 yard line with five minutes left in the first quarter. The Wildcats capitalized off of the turnover on their very next drive. On 1st and goal from the 4 yard line, quarterback Pookie Jones connected with wide receiver Alfonzo Browning on a touchdown pass and Kentucky took their first lead of the game at 7-3 late in the first quarter.
On Florida’s second drive of the second quarter, head coach Steve Spurrier elected to go to backup quarterback Danny Wuerffel instead of starter Terry Dean. But, on Wuerffel’s first play from scrimmage at his own 38 yard line, he threw a deep pass that was intercepted by Jenkins once again and he returned it to the Florida 49 yard line. Unfortunately, the Gators returned the favor on Kentucky’s ensuing offensive possession. On 1st and 10 on the Florida 41 yard line, quarterback Pookie Jones went for a play-fake, threw a pass intended for Terry Samuels and was intercepted by Florida’s Wright and returned to the Florida 37 yard line. The Gators capitalized on the Wildcats turnover on their ensuing offensive possession. Facing a 4th and inches inside Kentucky’s 2 yard line, Spurrier elected to not attempt a field goal and go for the first down. Quarterback Terry Dean kept it himself and ran in from 2 yards out for the touchdown. But there was a bad snap on their extra point attempt and the placeholder attempted a pass that fell incomplete and Florida’s lead was 9-7. Marcus Jenkins stepped it up once again for the Wildcats defense. On the final play of the first half and Florida on Kentucky’s 42 yard line, Dean attempted a hail mary towards the back of the endzone and Jenkins intercepted his third pass of the first half as Florida headed into the locker room leading 9-7 at halftime.
Kentucky received the ball to start the third quarter and the Wildcats wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. On Kentucky’s fourth play of their opening drive, a 1st and 10 on their own 30 yard line, running back Moe Williams ran right up the middle, broke a couple tackles, and raced 70 yards to the endzone and Kentucky regained the lead at 14-9 with thirteen minutes left in the third quarter. Kentucky added to their momentum with their defense on Florida’s next offensive drive. On the Gators fourth play of their drive, a 2nd and 10 on Kentucky’s 38 yard line, Dean attempted a pass across the middle that was intercepted by linebacker Marty Moore and he returned it to the Kentucky 43 yard line. Kentucky couldn’t capitalize on the turnover though and punted the ball back to Florida. But, yet again, the Wildcats defense stepped it up. On 2nd and 10 on Kentucky’s 35 yard line, Dean rolled to his left, threw across his body back to the right side of the field, and Kentucky’s Duce Williams intercepted yet another Gators pass and returned it to the Kentucky 24 yard line. But, once again, Kentucky’s offense couldn’t capitalize on a Florida turnover and they had to punt the ball back to the Gators. Kentucky’s lead remained at 14-9 at the end of the third quarter.
Kentucky moved the ball efficiently on their opening drive of the fourth quarter. They drove the ball all the way down inside the 5 yard line, but was backed up by a sack and a false start penalty and the drive was finally halted at the 6 yard line. The Wildcats attempted a 23-yard field goal and kicker Juha Leonoff was successful on the try and Kentucky expanded their lead to 17-9 with ten and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. But Florida responded on their very next drive. On 1st and 10 on Kentucky’s 19 yard line, backup quarterback Wuerffel threw a loft pass right down the middle to wide receiver Chris Doering for a touchdown. Spurrier elected to go for a 2-point conversion and Florida was successful on the attempt as they tied the game at 17 with seven and a half minutes left in the game. Kentucky couldn’t move the ball and punted the ball back to Florida. Inside their own 5 yard line, Wuerffel rolled to his left and threw towards the left sideline but his pass was intercepted by Willie Cannon and returned to the Florida 15 yard line with three minutes left in the fourth quarter. Kentucky’s drive was halted at the 8 yard line and the Wildcats needed to attempt another field goal. Leonoff was successful on his kick again, this time from 25 yards out, and Kentucky regained the lead at 20-17 with a minute and a half left in the game. In a little over a minute, quarterback Wuerffel led Florida’s offense all the way down to the Kentucky 28 yard line with 17 seconds left. On first down Wuerffel’s pass was broken up by free safety Steven Hall and 13 seconds remained in the game. On second down Wuerffel missed wide receiver Chris Doering right down the middle and there was only 8 seconds left. Facing a tough decision, head coach Steve Spurrier elected to not attempt a field goal that would’ve tied the game and went for a game-winning touchdown. On 3rd and 10 on Kentucky’s 28 yard line, Danny Wuerffel connected with a wide open Chris Doering in the endzone with only 3 seconds remaining in the game. Kentucky’s desperation lateral attempts on the ensuing kickoff was unsuccessful.
And so the Florida Gators narrowly escaped an upset on the road on the last play from scrimmage of the game. If losing on the last play isn’t heartbreaking enough, it’s how Kentucky failed to capitalize on Florida turnovers that was probably most heartbreaking. The Wildcats defense forced the Gators into throwing seven, yes 7, interceptions in the game, a Kentucky single-game record. But, Kentucky’s offense could only muster 10 points off of those seven turnovers. Kentucky had a .500 record of 5-5 over their last 10 games of the season and ended 1993 with a 6-6 record, including a berth in the Peach Bowl. Florida went 9-2 over their last 11 games of the season and finished 1993 with an 11-2 record, were SEC and Sugar Bowl champions, and ranked #5 in the final AP Poll.
Check back tomorrow for the #2 games on my countdown of the Top 10 Kentucky Football Biggest Victories and Top 10 Kentucky Football Heartbreaking Losses of the past 25 seasons. Here are links to the previous 7 games in 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
Kentucky Football: The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #5
Kentucky Football: The Thrill Of Victory And The Agony Of Defeat: #4
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