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Kentucky’s victory over No.10 Florida was a unique achievement for the entire British squad.
The Wildcats beat the Gators, 20-13, to score the school’s first victory over Florida at home since 1986 when Kentucky defeated Florida, 10-3.
Florida had won 16 straight games at Kentucky between that date and Saturday night. But Kentucky took the lead in the third quarter after Trevin Wallace returned a blocked 78-yard field goal for a touchdown.
The extra point was not good, and that was important as Florida had the ball for their last practice. Needing just a touchdown and an extra point to tie the game, the Gators reached the Kentucky five with less than a minute to go, but came back after that. The Gators came back to eight on fourth base, but Emory Jones’ pass fell incomplete after being deflected at the goal line.
Florida fell back towards the end of the game with another false start. The Gators made eight false starts during the game. Florida has been penalized 15 times for 115 yards while Kentucky has only been penalized four times.
SEC East Florida hopes dwindle
The Gators’ chances of repeating as SEC East champions are very slim after the loss. Georgia, number 2, beat Arkansas 37-0 at home and appear to be able to go 12-0 in the regular season. Florida now has losses against Alabama and Kentucky.
This means Georgia must lose to Florida and another team while Florida remain unbeaten for the remainder of the season for the Gators to return to the SEC Championship game. And that doesn’t even count Kentucky, a team that is now positioned to be Georgia’s main challenger in the East. The Wildcats now have an effective three game lead over the Gators in the event of a tie between the teams.
Florida entered the season as Georgia’s No.2 team in the East. And it’s hard to see how narrow the rift between the two teams is, even after Florida’s two-point loss to Alabama earlier this season.
What is the Kentucky cap?
Saturday night was not the best victory when you look at the box score. Kentucky benefited from Florida penalties and totaled just 224 yards. Quarterback Will Levis only had 7 of 17 passes for 87 yards and a touchdown and an interception while Chris Rodriguez had 19 carries for 99 yards and a score. Wan’Dale Robinson had four catches for 65 yards and one of those catches went to 41. Levis’ other six passes totaled just 46 yards and no player outside Robinson had more. of a single catch.
Kentucky even seemed to recognize that the victory was not magnificent.
Yet it was still a brutally effective victory. Kentucky is not going to beat teams in the air. Robinson provides an aerial threat that defenses must consider as Rodriguez has rushed for at least 99 yards in all of Kentucky’s games against FBS opponents this season.
Can Kentucky Achieve 10 Wins? This is not a crazy question even if “yes” is an improbable answer. Kentucky’s toughest remaining games are at home against LSU, Georgia and Mississippi State over the next four weeks. Kentucky probably won’t come away unscathed, but if the UK goes 6-2 at the end of November, they can start dreaming big with games against Tennessee, Vanderbilt, New Mexico State and Louisville in November.
A 10-win season would likely be good enough for a New Years bowl game and would be the program’s second 10-win season in four seasons under Mark Stoops. The UK had only won 10 games twice in 97 years before Stoops arrived.
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