Kentucky Wildcat Football: Top 5 UK Football Comebacks
By Jason Marcum
For much of UK’s history, when the Cats were down double digits, they normally didn’t have the firepower to come back and win, but times have changed since Rich Brooks got here. He instilled heart into this program and UK and its fans adopted the slogan “BELIEVE”. No matter how bad it may look, the boys in blue are rarely out of the fight and here are some of the best comebacks from this past decade:
Arkansas 2008
UK trailed 20-7 with 4:15 remaining in the game. Most of the fans had emptied out of the stadium. The players never quit though. After an Arkansas fumble, Mike Hartline threw back-to-back touchdowns to Randal Cobb to put the Cats ahead 21-20, and a Marcus McClinton interception sealed the miraculous comeback.
East Carolina 2009
UK entered their bowl game on a 3 game losing streak. After falling behind 61-3 at the half, and with no Randall Cobb due to a knee injury, the Cats could have easily packed it in and called it a year. But the Cats came out of halftime on fire. David Jones returned the opening kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. On the next drive, Mike Hartline hit Kyrus Lanxter for a 19-yard touchdown pass and the game was tied 16-all. The UK defense suffocated ECU the entire second half, allowing only one field goal, and scoring the game winning score on a Ventrell Jenkins 56-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown to give UK the Liberty Bowl victory, 25-19.
Georgia 2009
UK hadn’t beaten Georgia in Athens in 32 years. With 7:03 left in the 3rd quarter, UK trailed 13-27. True freshman QB Morgan Newton was struggling to find any consistency. His teammates started making plays for him. La’Rod King caught an amazing 1-handed 21 Yd Pass from Newton. Early in the 4th quarter, Derrick Locke caught a swing pass and took it 60 yards for the game tying score. UK defensive tackle Shane McCord got a rare interception of UGA QB Joe Cox to set up a Cobb 1-yard touchdown run with 9:55 remaining to give UK the lead, 34-27. UGA would then drive all the way to UK’s 1-yard line, but Washaun Ealey fumbled a pitch and Danny Trevathan recovered the fumble. UGA would have one more chance, but Cox was picked off by Sam Maxwell with 1:52 left to seal UK’s first win in Athens in 32 years.
South Carolina 2010
The Cats had never beaten Steve Spurrier and it didn’t look like that was going to change this year. The Cats fell behind 18 points at the half, but shut out the Gamecocks in the second half. Hartline would lead the comeback, throwing 3 second-half touchdowns, including the game winner to Randall Cobb with 1:15 remaining. South Carolina then drove the ball into the red zone and had chance to at least tie the game, but Stephen Garcia’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by Kentucky’s Anthony Mosley with 4 seconds remaining and UK won 31-28. The win gave UK its first win ever against a Steve Spurrier coached team and the defining win of Joker Phillip’s young coaching career.
LSU 2007
LSU entered the game as the no. 1 team in the nation. UK was looking for the signature win of the Rich Brooks era and first win over a no. 1 team in nearly four decades. LSU built a 13-point lead with 1:11 left in the 3rd quarter. “WE BELIEVE! WE BELIEVE!” the crowd chanted. That was UK’s slogan for the year. The UK players believed too. Andre Woodson hit Jacob Tamme with an 8 Yd Pass to make the score 27-21. Lones Seiber would kick two 4th quarter field goals to tie the game and LSU’s Colt David missed a 57-yard field goal as time expired and the game went into overtime. Both teams would trade scores through the first two OT periods. In the 3rd OT, Woodson hit Steve Johnson with a 7-yard TD pass to put UK up 43-37. On LSU’s possession, facing a 4th-and-2, Braxton Kelly stopped LSU running-back Jacob Hester short and UK upset the #1 and eventual national champion LSU tigers. The celebration was on as fans poured out of the stands to celebrate on the field with the players. For one night, it felt like UK was #1.
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