Kentucky Wildcats vs. Florida Gators Series Highlights

None of the members of the Kentucky football senior class were never even thought of the last time UK beat Florida in football, November of 1986. So to say that Kentucky is due for win in this series is a serious understatement. Despite not receiving the same caliber of prospects as the majority of the SEC programs Kentucky has still found a way to knock off every other school except for Florida and Tennessee. So will this be the year the Orange get crushed?

We’ll take a look back at some of the recent highlights of the series and see just how close this dreaded streak could have been written off years ago.

• 2010: Kentucky went into Gainesville where many thought the Gators were vulnerable. They had lost their icons in quarterback Tim Tebow. There play had seemed sluggish to start the season. Plus, Kentucky had their full arsenal of skill players: QB Mike Hartline, RB Derrick Locke, and receivers Randall Cobb & Chris Matthews. Even if UK wouldn’t win the game it seemed that we would have a competitive match to see. Enter UF freshman Trey Burton. Six touchdowns, six? One of UK’s most successful weapons, the Wildcat formation, had been used on them. The highlight of this game for UK was a 2nd quarter fake field goal attempt. Chris Matthews lined up wide right completely uncovered and unnoticed. Kentucky had the benefit of Randall Cobb being the holder. Once the ball was snapped Cobb stood up, hit a wide open Matthews who went in for the score. Sadly that’s as close as it got as Florida went onto win 48-14.

2009: #1 Florida rolled into Lexington and rolled they did. After an ugly 31-0 first quarter many thought we were on the verge of a triple digit beatdown with nothing to show for it. In the third quarter with a 31-7 lead, Tim Tebow took a snap and dropped back to survey the field. That’s when UK’s DE Taylor Wyndham stepped around the edge and put one of the hardest hits you’ll ever see. It was a scary moment when Tebow didn’t get up afterward, but for that brief moment when Wyndham came around the corner untouched and put the initial hit on Tebow, the excitement in Commonwealth Stadium was electric.

2007: A week after the infamous win over LSU, Florida came to town to face the #7 team in the nation. Andre Woodson’s 415 yards and 5 touchdowns weren’t enough as the Gators won one of the better contested games of the series 45-37. Aside from ending the streak, this win could have taken this program to a place that it hasn’t seen in years. The 2007 season in a nutshell was the most exciting and disappointing seasons we’ve seen.

Today may not be the day and next year may not either. But one day we’ll get over that big ugly hump that is Florida.

Til the battle is won!

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