We all watched Kentucky win the Belk Bowl 37-30 over Virginia Tech, but not everyone knows what exactly the win means. Here are Wildcat Blue Nation’s top-stats from the 2019 Kentucky Football season:
Kentucky Football Stats from the Belk Bowl
- UK was (3/3) 100% on 4th down conversions, including two Josh Ali’s diving catch to save the game-winning drive
- Virginia Tech was ranked 9th in the nation in red-zone defense prior to the game. Despite this, Kentucky went 3 for 3 (2 TDs / 1 FG) in the red-zone
- Kicker Matt Rufollo was 4 for 4 on PATs and 1 for1 on field goals despite a rocky season
- Kentucky won Time of Possession at 35:46 compared to VT’s 24:14. Kentucky possessed the football for 11:09 in the 4th quarter
- QB Lynn Bowden rushed for 233 yards on 34 carries with 3 TDs- a mark that is the best for a QB in the history of bowl games
Pretty good company pic.twitter.com/5qcBFEVywN
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) January 1, 2020
Stats from UK’s Season
- The only FBS player over the last 25 seasons to finish a year with 300+ pass yards, 1200+ rush yards, and 300+ receiving yards: LYNN BOWDEN JR. His final stats: 1,468 rush yds, 403 pass yds, 348 rec yds, and 17 TDs responsible for
- Following Kentucky’s 8-5 season, Mark Stoops is in good company. Among SEC coaches only Orgeron & Saban (both 24-3), Kirby Smart (22-5) and Dan Mullen (21-5) have better records than Stoops. Malzahn (17-8) and Jimbo Fisher (17-9) are next.
- After losing a litany of pieces on his defense, first-year coordinator Brad White led the Kentucky defense to the 4th best pass defense in the NATION & 5th in the SEC in total defense.
- After the Belk Bowl victory, Kentucky football won their final four games for the fifth time since World War II (53, 54, 76, 77, 19)
- After Lynn Bowden’s Belk Bowl performance he placed himself only five yards away from the most every rush yards by a QB in SEC single-season history… in essentially eight games. His company: Cam Newton (1,473) Lynn Bowden (1,468 ) Johnny Manziel (1,410)Nick Fitzgerald (1,375)
- Rushing totals in Kentucky’s final eight games with Bowden at QB: 330 160 297 302 401 462 517 331. That’s a total of 2,800 rushing yards for an average of 350 rushing yards/game.
Stats from Corey Price, UK Gameday Staff
Most average yards per punt in a single season in SEC history (min. 40 punts): 50.98, Braden Mann, Texas A&M, 2018; 48.16, Ricky Anderson, Vanderbilt, 1984; 48.12, Max Duffy, Kentucky, 2019
— Corey Price (@coreyp08) January 2, 2020
Kentucky has allowed 34 points or less in each of their last 27 games played dating back to the 2017 season, the longest such active streak among FBS schools
— Corey Price (@coreyp08) January 1, 2020
Lynn Bowden, Jr. set the school record for best average per rushing attempt in a single season (min. 100 att.)(7.9)(previous record was 7.1 by Boom Williams in 2015)
— Corey Price (@coreyp08) January 1, 2020
Lynn Bowden, Jr. is the 2nd FBS player since 2000 to have at least 1 passing touchdown, 1 punt return touchdown, and 1 rushing touchdown in their career in bowl games (Marques Hagans, Virginia, 2002-2005)
— Corey Price (@coreyp08) January 1, 2020