Inside The Numbers: Western Kentucky

by: Corey Price

Well ladies and gents, can you smell it? Can you feel it? Can you hear it? It is that time again, by far the best 3 months out of the year. Of course I’m talking about Western Kentucky’s annual baby adoption drive, as shown by the picture above. No, but seriously, I’m talking COLLEGE FOOTBALL!! Later on tonight the Kentucky Wildcats will open their 121st season, and their 27th season since I was put on this planet, against an in-state foe from the Sun Belt Conference, the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Kickoff is set for 9:15 p.m. EST and will of course be played out-of-state, because that makes sense for a matchup of two Kentucky schools, right? Anywho, the game will be played at LP Field in Nashville, UK’s home away from home recently, playing in 4 bowl games there in the last 12 seasons. Without further ado, here are some facts and notes that I have compiled so that you can be full of knowledge heading into tonight’s game. Enjoy:

Records

Overall Record vs. Western Kentucky: 2-0 (1.000)

• September 27th, 2008: Kentucky – 41 Western Kentucky – 3 Commonwealth Stadium (Attendance: 70,731)
• September 11th, 2010: Kentucky – 63 Western Kentucky – 28 Commonwealth Stadium (Attendance: 66,584)

Overall Record vs. Sun Belt Conference opponents: 11-1 (.917)

• Only Loss: November 12th, 1994: Kentucky – 14 Louisiana-Monroe (named Northeastern Louisiana at the time) – 21 Commonwealth Stadium (Attendance: 32,000)

Overall Record vs. teams located in the state of Kentucky: 102-51-2 (.665)

• UK has won their last 8 meetings against in-state opponents

Kentucky And Season Openers

With this being only the 3rd ever meeting between the Wildcats and the Hilltoppers on the gridiron, there’s not much history between the two schools to look into. So, I instead looked into Kentucky’s history in season openers. And here’s what I found of interest:

Kentucky’s Top Individual Season Opening Performances

Passing

• 498 yards, Tim Couch vs. Louisville (1998)
• 446 yards, Dusty Bonner vs. Louisville (1999)
• 398 yards, Tim Couch vs. Louisville (1997)
• 322 yards, Jared Lorenzen vs. Louisville (2000)
• 313 yards, Bill Ransdell vs. Bowling Green (1985)

Rushing

• 158 yards, Mark Higgs vs. Utah State (1987)
• 157 yards, Rodger Bird vs. Virginia Tech (1963)
• 135 yards, Rafael Little vs. Eastern Kentucky (2007)
• 130 yards, Pookie Jones vs. Kent State (1993)
• 123 yards, Derek Homer vs. Louisville (1998)

Receiving

• 150 yards, Craig Yeast vs. Louisville (1998)
• 127 yards, Keenan Burton vs. #13 Louisville (2006)
• 120 yards, Kio Sanford vs. Louisville (1997)
• 115 yards, James Whalen vs. Louisville (1999)
• 113 yards, Dicky Lyons, Jr. vs. Eastern Kentucky (2007)

Overall record in season openers: 82-33-5 (.704)

• UK has won their last 4 season openers, the most since winning 8 in a row from 1987 to 1994

Overall record in season openers away from home: 9-15-1 (.380)

Longest win streak of season openers: 20 games (1907-1926)

Longest losing streak of season openers: 6 games (1952-1957)

Worst record in a season in which UK won their season opener: 1-10 (.091) (1994)

• That’s right, Kentucky defeated in-state rival Louisville in their first meeting against each other in 70 years, and then proceeded to lose every other game that season. At least they beat Louisville, there is a silver lining.

Best record in a season in which UK lost their season opener: 8-3 (.727) (1947)

• Kentucky lost to Ole Miss 14-7 in the season opener, then went on a tear, winning 8 of their last 10 games, with their only other losses coming against Alabama and Tennessee.

How much of a difference does it make when you win your season opener? Here’s what I found:

• In the 82 seasons in which Kentucky won their season opener, their combined record in those seasons was 422-340-30, a winning percentage of .552.
• In the 33 seasons in which Kentucky lost their season opener, their combined record in those seasons was 134-199-8, a winning percentage of .405.

So, in seasons in which Kentucky won their season opener, their winning percentage was about 15% higher than in seasons in which Kentucky lost their season opener, pretty significant if you ask me. Winning the first game of the season should always set the tone for the remainder of the games. But don’t tell that to the 1994 team.

Milestones To Watch For

Matt Roark

• Needs 2 blocked kicks to set the school record for career blocked kicks. (Record currently held by Lonnell DeWalt with 7 career blocked kicks, all in the 2004 season.)

Morgan Newton

• Needs 29 passing yards for 1,000 career passing yards
• Needs 22 pass attempts for 200 career pass attempts

La’Rod King

• Needs 5 receptions for 50 career receptions

I decided to end this Inside The Numbers with a recap of three fairly uncommon occurrences with Kentucky football that will happen against Western Kentucky. First of all, Kentucky will be playing a team from Kentucky in the state of Tennessee. Second of all, Kentucky will be opening the season on a Thursday, not a Saturday. So I decided to make a list of all the games in which UK had a season opener outside the state of Kentucky, had a season opener not played on a Saturday, and played a game in which the site of the game was neither in Kentucky nor the home state of the opponent. Here are the lists:

UK Playing A Regular Season Opponent In Neither Kentucky Nor Opponents’ Home State

• November 14th, 1925: Kentucky – 7 V.M.I. – 0 Charleston, West Virginia
• November 13th, 1926: Kentucky – 9 V.M.I. – 10 Charleston, West Virginia
• November 12th, 1927: Kentucky – 25 V.M.I. – 0 Charleston, West Virginia
• November 4th, 1944: Kentucky – 0 #18 Mississippi State – 26 Memphis, Tennessee
• September 21st, 1945: Kentucky – 7 Ole Miss – 21 Memphis, Tennessee
• September 25th, 1954: Kentucky – 9 #9 Ole Miss – 28 Memphis, Tennessee
• September 29th, 1956: Kentucky – 7 #9 Ole Miss – 37 Memphis, Tennessee
• September 27th, 1958: #17 Kentucky – 6 #9 Ole Miss – 27 Memphis, Tennessee
• September 24th, 1960: Kentucky – 6 #1 Ole Miss – 21 Memphis, Tennessee

Overall Record: 2-7 (.222)

UK Season Openers Not Played On A Saturday

• Friday, April 10th, 1891: Kentucky – 8 Georgetown – 2 Lexington
• Friday, September 25th, 1903: Kentucky – 39 Cynthiana – 0 Lexington
• Friday, September 30th, 1904: Kentucky – 28 Paris Athletic Club – 0 Lexington
• Wednesday, September 27th, 1905: Kentucky – 52 Cynthiana – 0 Lexington
• Friday, September 21st, 1945: Kentucky – 7 Ole Miss – 21 Memphis
• Sunday, September 1st, 2002: Kentucky – 22 #17 Louisville – 17 Louisville
• Sunday, August 31st, 2003: Kentucky – 24 Louisville – 40 Lexington
• Sunday, September 5th, 2004: Kentucky – 0 Louisville – 28 Louisville
• Sunday, September 4th, 2005: Kentucky – 24 #12 Louisville – 31 Lexington
• Sunday, September 3rd, 2006: Kentucky – 28 #13 Louisville – 59 Louisville
• Sunday, August 31st, 2008: Kentucky – 27 Louisville – 2 Louisville

Overall Record: 6-5 (.545)

UK Season Openers Played Outside The State Of Kentucky

• September 22nd, 1894: Kentucky – 4 Cincinnati – 32 Cincinnati, Ohio
• September 29th, 1900: Kentucky – 6 Cincinnati – 20 Cincinnati, Ohio
• October 5th, 1901: Kentucky – 0 Vanderbilt – 22 Nashville, Tennessee
• October 6th, 1906: Kentucky – 0 Vanderbilt – 28 Nashville, Tennessee
• October 5th, 1918: Kentucky – 24 Indiana – 7 Bloomington, Indiana
• September 25th, 1937: Kentucky – 0 Vanderbilt – 12 Nashville, Tennessee
• September 21st, 1945: Kentucky – 7 Ole Miss – 21 Memphis, Tennessee
• September 20th, 1947: Kentucky – 7 Ole Miss – 14 Oxford, Mississippi
• September 17th, 1955: Kentucky – 7 LSU – 19 Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• September 21st, 1957: #20 Kentucky – 0 #11 Georgia Tech – 13 Atlanta, Georgia
• September 17th, 1960: Kentucky – 13 Georgia Tech – 23 Atlanta, Georgia
• September 18th, 1965: Kentucky – 7 Missouri – 0 Columbia, Missouri
• September 23rd, 1967: Kentucky – 10 Indiana – 12 Bloomington, Indiana
• September 12th, 1970: Kentucky – 10 UNC – 20 Chapel Hill, North Carolina
• September 11th, 1971: Kentucky – 13 Clemson – 10 Clemson, South Carolina
• September 14th, 1974: Kentucky – 38 Virginia Tech – 7 Blacksburg, Virginia
• September 16th, 1978: #17 Kentucky – 14 South Carolina – 14 Columbia, South Carolina
• September 11th, 1982: Kentucky – 9 Kansas State – 23 Manhattan, Kansas
• September 5th, 2009: Kentucky – 42 Miami (Ohio) – 0 Cincinnati, Ohio

Overall Record: 5-13-1 (.289)

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