Kentucky is 5-0 after Saturday’s 33-14 win over Florida. The Wildcats are now 2-0 in SEC play with a road trip to Georgia coming up next weekend.
Ray Davis finished with 280 yards Saturday, which ranks third on the all-time Kentucky list. He was just 19 yards short of the all-time single game record of 299 (Moe Williams).
Davis also went over the 3,000-yard mark for his college career during the game.
KENTUCKY FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES
FLORIDA at KENTUCKY
KROGER FIELD AT C.M. NEWTON GROUNDS – LEXINGTON, KY
SEPT. 30, 2023
FINAL SCORE: Kentucky 33, No. 22/23 Florida 14
Team Records and Series Information
– Kentucky is 5-0 on the season, 2-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while Florida is 3-2, 1-1 in the league.
– Florida remains the leader in the series, 53-21.
– UK has won three in a row against UF for the first time since a four-game win streak against the Gators in 1948-51.
– Florida remains the leader in games played in Lexington, 22-12.
– The 19-point margin of victory was the largest for UK vs. Florida since 1979, a 31-3 triumph at Florida.
– This was UK’s largest margin of victory against a ranked Florida since 1976, 28-9 in Lexington.
– UK held Florida to 16 points or less in three consecutive meetings for the first time since 1955-57.
– The 33 points scored by UK are the most vs. Florida since a 45-37 loss in 2007.
– Next for UK: The Wildcats travel to Athens, Georgia, for an Oct. 7 matchup with the No. 1-ranked Georgia Bulldogs.
– The game time is 7 p.m. ET and it will be televised by ESPN.
Team Notes
Record Notes:
– Kentucky opens the season 5-0 for:
The 14th time in school history
The fifth time in the last 72 years (also 1984, 2007, 2018 and 2021).
The third time under head coach Mark Stoops (also 2018 and 2021).
– UK is 2-0 in the SEC for only the third time in the last 46 seasons, also 2018 and 2021.
– UK defeated a ranked Florida team for the third season in a row, first time in school history UK has defeated the same ranked opponent three years in a row.
– With today’s win, UK claimed its fourth win over a ranked Gators team since 2018.
– This is the first time in school history that UK has defeated a ranked opponent four years in a row.
– The Wildcats claimed their sixth ranked win in their last 10 meetings against ranked teams.
Offensive Notes:
Kentucky scored 33 points, which was the first time since 2007 that UK has scored at least 28 points in its first five games of the season.
UK won its first five games of the season by at least 11 points for the first time since 2018.
Kentucky has scored on its first drive in four of five games this season, including today’s 24-yard field goal.
UK has scored on the first drive of the second half in three of five games this season.
Defensive Notes:
Kentucky limited Florida to 69 yards rushing.
The Wildcats have held each of their first five opponents of the season under 100 yards rushing for the first time in school history, based on game-by-game stats since the 1940s.
This is the fewest rushing yards UK has allowed vs. Florida since 1979 (28 yards in that game).
Kentucky has allowed 28 points or less in its first five games of the season, for three straight seasons, for the first time since 1960-62.
UK has forced nine turnovers in the first five games, the most in its first five games since 2017.
UK has forced at least one turnover in each of the first five games for the first time since 2019.
UK has forced a turnover in nine consecutive regular-season games, dating back to last season, which is its most since a 10-game stretch in 2016-17.
Coach Mark Stoops
Mark Stoops is in his 11th season as Kentucky’s head coach, extending his school record for the most seasons as the UK head coach.
UK is 5-0 for the third time in the last six seasons under Coach Stoops, joining 2018 and 2021.
Stoops extended his school records for most total victories (71), SEC victories (34), wins against ranked opponents (12) and home victories (50).
After two games of the 2016 season, Stoops’ record was 12-26, but he has gone 59-33 (.641) since.
Player Notes
Quarterback Devin Leary completed nine of his 20 passing attempts for 69 yards, no interceptions, and one touchdown.
His nine-yard touchdown pass to Ray Davis in the first quarter marked the 10th TD pass of his UK career and 72nd of his career.
Running back Ray Davis had 26 carries for a career-high 280 yards rushing and a career-best three touchdowns rushing. He also added a nine-yard touchdown reception.
His 280 yards rushing are the third-most in a game in program history, and were just 19 short of the school record.
He became the ninth player in UK history to eclipse 200 yards rushing in a game, while it marked the 13th instance in program history.
His 280 yards helped him eclipse 3,000 yards rushing for his career, currently sitting at 3,091.
Prior to today’s game, just two active FBS players eclipsed 3,000.
His 280 yards were the second-most rushing yards of any player on any team against Florida.
Tyr Davis-Price of LSU holds the top spot with 287 against UF in 2021.
His four touchdowns tied the school record for the most total touchdowns in a game.
He became the 13th player in UK history to have four touchdowns in a game, while it marked the 15th instance in program history.
He has scored at least one touchdown in each game this season, first Wildcat to TD in the first five games since Artose Pinner in 2002.
It was his second game this season to have a rushing and receiving TD.
On his second touchdown, he had a career-long, 75-yard score rushing.
The best two rushes of his career have occurred in Blue and White, first with a 55-yard rush against Akron, followed by the 75-yard rush against Florida.
It was Kentucky’s longest run in school history vs. Florida.
Wide receiver Barion Brown led UK with four catches for 37 yards.
He improves his streak of 18 straight games with a reception, which is every single game of his college career.
Defensive back Maxwell Hairston had a career-high 10 tackles, including eight solo tackles and one-half tackle for loss (-1 yard).
Defensive back Alex Afari Jr. had a career-high nine tackles, including five solo tackles and one tackle for loss (-1 yard). He had two tackles on third down that forced punts, plus a fourth-down stop that turned over the ball on downs.
Outside linebacker Keaten Wade had a career-high six tackles, including four solo tackles and one-half for loss (-2 yards).
Inside linebacker D’Eryk Jackson had five tackles, one sack (-6 yards), 1.5 tackles for loss (-8 yards) and one pass breakup.
Linebacker J.J. Weaver (-13 yards) and defensive lineman Deone Walker (-8 yards) also had a sack apiece.
Walker also was credited with a pass breakup, hitting the receiver to pop up the ball, which was intercepted by Trevin Wallace.
Inside linebacker Trevin Wallace had a pickoff that was returned 21 yards to the Florida 15-yard line, setting up Kentucky’s first touchdown of the game.
It was his first interception of the season and the third interception of his career.
Kicker Alex Raynor went 2-of-2 on field goal attempts, including a 24-yard field goal on UK’s first drive of the game and a career-long, 50-yard field goal that gave UK a crucial three-score cushion in the fourth quarter.
He has made his last 12 straight field goals, a stretch dating back to last season.
Raynor also connected on 3-of-4 extra point attempts.
Game captains: quarterback Devin Leary, defensive lineman Deone Walker and linebackers J.J. Weaver and Trevin Wallace.
