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Kentucky Wildcats Football: UK vs. Louisville Cardinals Postgame Notes

By Danielle

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Postgame Notes from the season finale between the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals.

KENTUCKY POSTGAME NOTES

Kentucky at No. 23 Louisville

Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium – Louisville, Ky.

Nov. 29, 2014

FINAL SCORE: No. 23 Louisville 44, UK 40

Team Records and Series Notes

  • With the loss, Kentucky ends the season 5-7 and with the win, Louisville improves to 9-3.
  • UK leads the all-time series, 14-13, including a 6-5 mark in games played in Louisville.

Team Notes

  • Kentucky’s game captains were Jordan Swindle, Javess Blue, Bud Dupree and Za’Darius Smith for the 11th time in 12 games.
  • Kentucky has 15 interceptions on the year, its most since the 2011 team had 15.
    • UK had two interceptions for the first time since picking off two passes vs. Louisiana-Monroe.
  • UK blocked its first punt of the year and its first since Josh Forrest blocked a punt vs. Alabama State in 2013.
    • UK’s blocked kick was its first since blocking a field goal vs. Louisiana-Monroe.
  • Fred Tiller’s interception return for a TD and Mike Douglas’ fumble recovery for a touchdown marked the fifth and sixth defensive touchdowns for the Wildcats in 2014, a new program record, eclipsing the previous record set several times, most recently in 2008.
    • UK has returned four interceptions for touchdowns in 2014.
    • UK’s defensive touchdowns marked its first since Marcus McWilson had an interception returned for a touchdown vs. ULM.
      • It was also UK’s first game with two defensive TDs since vs. ULM.
    • UK held Louisville to 83 yards rushing, the third opponent in 2014 the Wildcats held under 100 yards rushing.
    • With freshman Boom Williams leading UK with 488 total yards rushing in 2014 and Jojo Kemp pacing the Wildcats with 482 yards rushing in 2013, it marked the first time in UK history that the Wildcats have been led by a freshmen in rushing in back to back seasons (freshmen allowed to play first year as of 1972).
    • The Wildcats forced four Louisville turnovers, their most forced since UT Martin had five turnovers in the season lidlifter.
    • UK was a perfect 5-for-5 in the redzone and finished the year scoring in 34-of-39 chances, with 14 rushing touchdowns and six passing.
    • The Wildcats forced three, 3 & outs in the game and forced a total of 38 on the year.
    • UK caused two fumbles, its most since forcing UT Martin into three fumbles.
    • Kentucky forced its opponent into the seventh punt on a game-opening drive on the year.
    • UK scored on its opening possession of the game for the second consecutive game and fifth time in 2014.
    • Kentucky was 3-1 vs. non-conference foes.
    • UK was 4-5 in day games.
    • UK was 4-2 when scoring first and 3-2 when scoring on its first possession.
    • UK was 3-1 when leading after the first quarter, 0-6 when trailing at halftime.
    • UK wore an all-white uniform combination for the first time in 2014.

Individual Notes

  • Sophomore QB Patrick Towles made his 11th career start.
    • Towles finished 14-for-29 for 176 yards.
    • Towles finished with 303 rushing yards on the year, giving UK five players with at least 300 rushing yards this season, along with Braylon Heard, Boom Williams, Jojo Kemp and Mikel Horton.
      • It is the first time since 1977 that UK had five rushers with at least 300 yards.
    • Towles finished with 3,021 total yards of offense in 2014.
      • Towles is the first Wildcat to reach 3,000 total offensive yards since Mike Hartline had 3,143 in 2010.
      • Towles is the sixth UK quarterback to get 3,000 total offensive yards in a season, along with Tim Couch, Dusty Bonner, Jared Lorenzen, Andre’ Woodson and Mike Hartline.
  • Senior Za’Darius Smith, junior OL Jordan Swindle and sophomore C Jon Toth each made their team-leading 24th consecutive start.
  • Senior DE Za’Darius Smith finished with five tackles and one sack.
    • Smith recovered his first fumble of the year and the second of his career.
    • Smith finished with 4.5 sacks on the year and 10.5 in his career.
    • Smith had 7.5 tackles for loss in 2014 and 14 in his career.
  • Senior FB D.J. Warren played in his team-high 48th career game.
  • Junior Landon Foster punted six times for a 45.7-yard average, with two punts downed inside the 20-yard line and two punts going for 50+ yards.
    • Foster set a new career long with a 60-yard punt.
    • Foster downed one punt inside the 20-yard line and now has a career-high 27 punts downed inside the 20-yard line in 2014, equaling the school record set by Glenn Pakulak in 2002.
    • Foster has 39 career 50+ yard punts and 10 in 2014.
  • Senior WR Javess Blue blocked his first career punt.
    • Blue finished his career with 72 catches and 1,111 yards.
    • Blue had 29 catches as a senior for 525 yards, with his 18.1 yard average ranking second in UK single-season history, behind Larry Seiple (1965; 23.5).
  • Junior LB Josh Forrest – a native of Paducah, Ky. – totaled eight tackles and had at least four tackles in every game in 2014.
    • Forrest defended his fourth pass of the year and the fifth of his career.
    • Forrest finished 2014 with a team-leading 110 tackles, owning 139 in his three-year career.
  • Junior S A.J. Stamps intercepted his team-leading fourth pass of the year, returning it 30 yards.
    • Stamps broke up a pass and has defended nine passes on the year.
  • Freshman RB Boom Williams carried it a career-high 18 times for a career-best 126 yards and two touchdowns.
    • Williams had a 43-yard rush in the first quarter, marking his sixth play of 40+ yards in 2014.
    • Williams had five rushing touchdowns on the year and six total TDs.
    • Williams is the eighth freshmen in program history to lead UK in rushing and the third since the turn of the century (Jojo Kemp, 2013; Chad Scott, 2000).
  • Freshman Austin MacGinnis was 4-for-4 in field goal attempts and 21-for-27 on the year, connecting from 22, 45, 40 and 27 yards out in the game.
    • MacGinnis is 4-for-5 from 20-30 and 5-for-7 from 40-49 yards in 2014.
    • MacGinnis set the new school record with 21 field goals made in a season, topping 19 from Joey Worley (1985).
    • MacGinnis booted three touchbacks on kickoffs, giving him 25 on the year, the most for UK in program history (records accessible to 2004), eclipsing the 23 in 2007 and 2008.
    • MacGinnis was a perfect 4-for-4 in PAT attempts and was 41-for-41 on the year, the most PAT attempts in a season without a miss.
    • MacGinnis set a new Governor’s Cup record with his four field goals, eclipsing the previous mark of three held by Taylor Begley (2002).
    • MacGinnis set new career highs in field goals made (four) and points (16).
    • MacGinnis finished 2014 with 104 total points, breaking the school record for most points in a season. The previous record was 102 by Moe Williams in 1995.
    • MacGinnis had 16 points vs. UL, the second most scored by a UK kicker in a single game, just shy of Doug Pelfrey’s 18 points vs. Mississippi State in 1992.
  • Senior DE/LB Bud Dupree finished with seven tackles, one sack and three tackles for loss.
    • Dupree finished his career with 248 tackles, 23.5 sacks and 38 tackles for loss, forcing four fumbles.
      • Dupree ranks second in UK career history with 23.5 sacks.
    • Dupree finished his senior year with 7.5 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss.
    • Dupree is the first UK player to force two fumbles in a game since Danny Trevathan forced two fumbles vs. Georgia in 2011.
  • Junior CB Fred Tiller intercepted a pass in the second quarter and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown.
    • It was Tiller’s first career touchdown.
    • Tiller defended two passes and now has a career-best 11 passes defended in 2014 and 17 in his career.
  • Senior DT Mike Douglas charted his sixth quarterback hurry of the year, setting up an interception for A.J. Stamps in the first quarter.
    • Douglas returned a fumble for 30 yards for a touchdown.
  • Senior WR Demarco Robinson hauled in two catches for 59 yards.
    • Robinson finished his career with 1,028 receiving yards, becoming the 24th player in UK history to reach 1,000 receiving yards in his career.
  • Junior DE Jabari Johnson totaled his fourth tackle for loss.
  • Senior TE Steven Borden caught his first pass since the season-opening win over UT-Martin.
  • Junior NB Blake McClain recorded his second sack of the year and the third of his career.
  • Junior LB Ryan Flannigan totaled his second consecutive double-figure tackle effort with a game-high 11 tackles.
    • Flannigan broke up his first career pass.
  • Junior WR Joey Herrick caught a career long 17-yard pass in the third quarter, later adding a career-long 42-yard pass in the fourth quarter.
    • Herrick had a career-high 59 yards receiving on two catches.
  • Junior RB Braylon Heard caught a career-long 21 yard pass.
  • Sophomore S Marcus McWilson broke up his first career pass, marking his fourth pass defended of the year (three INTs).
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