1947 Kentucky Wildcats football team

The 1947 Kentucky Wildcats football team was an American footballteam that represented the University of Kentucky as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1947 college football season. In its second season under head coach Bear Bryant, the team compiled an 8–3 record (2–3 against SEC opponents), defeated Villanova in the Great Lakes Bowl, and outscored all opponents by a total of 175 to 73.[1] The team played its home games at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

1947 Kentucky Wildcats football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record8–3 (2–3 SEC)
Head coach
CaptainBill Moseley
Home stadiumMcLean Stadium
Seasons
← 1946
1948 →
1947 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 13 Ole Miss $ 6 1 0 9 2 0
No. 10 Georgia Tech 4 1 0 10 1 0
No. 6 Alabama 5 2 0 8 3 0
Mississippi State 2 2 0 7 3 0
Georgia 3 3 0 7 4 1
Vanderbilt 3 3 0 6 4 0
Tulane 2 3 2 2 5 2
LSU 2 3 1 5 3 1
Kentucky 2 3 0 8 3 0
Tennessee 2 3 0 5 5 0
Auburn 1 5 0 2 7 0
Florida 0 3 1 4 5 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1947 Kentucky team was ranked in the AP Poll during three weeks of the season: No. 20 on October 13; No. 14 on October 20; and No. 13 on October 27.[2] Kentucky dropped out of the poll after losing its second game to Alabama. The team was ranked at No. 29 in the final Litkenhous Ratings.[3]

Three Kentucky players were honored on the 1947 All-SEC football teams selected by both the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP): center Jay Rhodemyre (AP-1; UP-1); tackle Wash Serini (AP-2); and guard Lee Yarutis (AP-3).[4][5]

Junior George Blanda was Kentucky's starting quarterback in 1947 and 1948. Blanda later played 26 years in the National Football League and set the league's all-time scoring record.

Schedule

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DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 20at Ole MissL 7–1418,000[6]
September 27CincinnatiW 20–023,800[7][8]
October 4at Xavier
W 20–715,000[9]
October 11 No. 9 Georgia
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 26–024,000[10]
October 18at No. 10 VanderbiltNo. 20W 14–022,500[11]
October 25at Michigan StateNo. 14W 7–626,997[12]
November 1 No. 18 AlabamaNo. 13
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
L 0–1324,500[13]
November 8at West VirginiaW 15–626,500[14]
November 15Evansville
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 36–015,000[15]
November 22 Tennessee 
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY (rivalry)
L 6–1325,000[16]
December 6VillanovaW 24–1415,000[17]
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
Poll123456789Final
AP201413

References

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  1. ^ "1947 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  2. ^ AP Poll Archive Archived 2009-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 18, 1947). "Michigan National Champion in Final Litkenhous Ratings". Times. p. 47 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Tech, Ole Miss, State Also Get 2 Berths Each". The Anniston Star. November 26, 1947. p. 10. Retrieved May 31, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  5. ^ "Three Alabama Players Given Stellar Ratings". The Courier News. November 26, 1947. p. 35. Retrieved June 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ Wayne Thompson (September 21, 1947). "Ole Miss Smashes Kentucky 14 To 7". Clarion-Ledger. p. Sports 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Dick Forbes (September 28, 1947). "Kentucky Is 20-0 Winner Over UC". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Kentucky Drops Cincinnati 20-0 As Dopey Phelps Sparks Offensive". The Paducah Sun-Democrat. September 28, 1947. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Bill Ford (October 4, 1947). "Kentucky Wins Over Xavier, 20-7". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Larry Boeck (October 12, 1947). "Alert Wildcats Stun Georgia 26-0". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Larry Boeck (October 19, 1947). "U.K. Roars to Fourth Straight Win, Shocks Vandy With First Loss 14-0". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Marshall Dann (October 25, 1947). "MSC Loses Star, Game". Detroit Free Press. p. Sports 1, 2 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Larry Boeck (November 2, 1947). "Bama Line Halts Kentucky's Five-Game Win Streak 13-0". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Larry Boeck (November 9, 1947). "Kentucky Slides Past West Virginia 15-6". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "U.K., Playing Under Wraps, Tramples Evansville By 36-0". The Courier-Journal. November 16, 1947. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ Larry Boeck (November 23, 1947). "Neyland Jinx On Cats Continues As Tennessee Sinks Kentucky 13-6 With 4th Period Score". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Larry Boeck (December 7, 1947). "Only 15,000 See U.K. Drop Villanova 24-14 In Great Lakes Bowl". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.