Team to build on 10-win season
A season ago, coach Mark Stoops rewarded the University of Kentucky’s faith in his program’s direction with a 10-win season, the end of a 31-game losing streak to Florida and a New Year’s Day bowl game appearance. The Wildcats now will look to prove this was not a once-in-a-generation season, but a sign of things to come.
It will not be easy following the loss of 14 of 22 starters, including tailback Benny Snell, the school’s all-time leading rusher, and 2018 national defensive player of the year Josh Allen. Massive facility upgrades and seven recruiting classes inside the top 40 under Stoops are a solid foundation, but the rest of the SEC East also is making strides.
Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel ranked all 130 FBS teams in the country entering the 2019 season. The Sentinel staff will take a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 130 to our projected No. 1 team.
Today at No. 30:
Kentucky
Coach: Mark Stoops (36-39, entering seventh season; 36-39 overall)
2018 record: 10-3 overall, 5-3 in SEC; tied for second in East Division
Look back: Kentucky’s dominating 27-16 win in Gainesville during Week 2 proved to be a harbinger of a special season in Lexington. The last time the Wildcats won 10 games, it was 1977 and former president Jimmy Carter was finishing his first year White House.
A stunning 24-7 loss at rebuilding Tennessee a week after losing to SEC East heavyweight Georgia cost Kentucky’s 2018 squad a shot at a New Year’s Six Bowl. But unlike past seasons under Stoops, these Wildcats did not fade down the stretch, instead winning their final three games. This included a 56-10 rout of in-state rival Louisville and a 27-24 Citrus Bowl win against Big Ten power Penn State. in
Offensive starters 4
Offensive starters lost: 7
Defensive starters 4 the
returning: returning:
Defensive starters lost: 7
Key losses: RB Benny Snell, LB Josh Allen, T.E. C.J. Conrad, S Mike Edwards, G Bunchy Stallings, CB Lonnie Johnson
QB Terry Wilson, WR Lynn Bowden, LT Landon Young, G Logan Stenberg, C Drake Johnson, NG Quinton Bohanna
Strengths: The Wildcats lose a ton on both sides of the football. The good news for Kentucky is that both the offensive and defensive lines remain solid.
The return of left tackle Landon Young from an ACL tear will solidify the offensive line. He will be joined on the Wildcats’ strongest unit by senior left guard Logan Stenberg and junior center Drake Johnson, a pair of preseason AllSEC third-team selections.
Weaknesses: Replace players like linebacker Josh Allen and tailback Benny Snell is impossible for any program. Allen’s 17 school-record sacks led the SEC. Meanwhile, Snell’s 1,449 rushing yards and 16 scores gave him career totals of 3,873 yards and 48
2019 Schedule
touchdowns on the ground — both school records.
Sophomore Jordan Wright and freshman J.J. Weaver, a four-star recruit from Louisville, will try to fill Allen’s shoes. Tailback could be in solid hands with junior A.J. Rose. Last season, he showed promise and better speed than Snell, averaging 6.2 yards and scoring five times on 71 carries.
Outlook: Crippling personnel losses and a demanding schedule will make it virtually impossible to match last season’s success. Few, if any, programs simply can reload and not take a step back after losing nearly 65 percent of the starters. A visit from revenge-fueled UF in Week 3, followed by three SEC road games in four weeks, will make the challenge even more difficult for the Wildcats. Even so, no one would question the direction of Kentucky’s program under Stoops, the reigning SEC Coach of the Year. The 52-year-old inherited a program that did not win a conference game in 2012. Kentucky has not finished outside the top three in the SEC East the past three seasons.