2020 Kentucky Wildcats football team

2020 Kentucky Wildcats football
2020 Kentucky Wildcats football
Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 23–21 vs. NC State
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
Record	5–6 (4–6 SEC)
Head coach	Mark Stoops (8th season);
Offensive coordinator	Eddie Gran (5th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Darin Hinshaw (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Brad White (2nd season)
Home stadium	Kroger Field; (Capacity: 61,000)
	Seasons ← 2019 2021 →

The 2020 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky, and competed in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by eighth-year head coach Mark Stoops.

2020 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 13 Florida x	8	–	2	8	–	4
No. 7 Georgia	7	–	2	8	–	2
Missouri	5	–	5	5	–	5
Kentucky	4	–	6	5	–	6
Tennessee	3	–	7	3	–	7
South Carolina	2	–	8	2	–	8
Vanderbilt	0	–	9	0	–	9
West Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#^	10	–	0	13	–	0
No. 4 Texas A&M	8	–	1	9	–	1
Auburn	6	–	4	6	–	5
LSU*	5	–	5	5	–	5
Ole Miss	4	–	5	5	–	5
Arkansas	3	–	7	3	–	7
Mississippi State	3	–	7	4	–	7
Championship: Alabama 52, Florida 46
# – College Football Playoff champion ^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * – ineligible for postseason due to self imposed ban Note: Due to COVID-19, the SEC played a conference-only schedule. Rankings from AP Poll.

Preseason

SEC Media Days

In the preseason media poll, Kentucky was predicted to finish in fourth place in the East Division.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Media poll (East Division)
1	Florida	624 (53)
2	Georgia	613 (43)
3	Tennessee	434
4	Kentucky	405
5	South Carolina	287
6	Missouri	224
7	Vanderbilt	101

Schedule

Kentucky had games scheduled against Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, and Louisville, which were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]^[3] This will be the first season since 1993 that the Wildcats do not play Louisville. As of 10/16/2020, the SEC swapped two teams and the dates of when they will play the Wildcats. This is because of an outbreak of COVID-19 among other competing SEC football teams. Missouri will be an away game on October 24, instead of an away game on the 31st and Georgia, at home, on October 31 instead of the 24th.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 26, 2020	12:00 p.m.	at No. 8 Auburn	No. 23	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	SECN	L 13–29	17,490
October 3	4:00 p.m.	Ole Miss		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	L 41–42 ^OT	12,000
October 10	7:30 p.m.	Mississippi State		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	W 24–2	12,000
October 17	12:00 p.m.	at No. 18 Tennessee		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	SECN	W 34–7	22,519
October 24	4:00 p.m.	at Missouri		Faurot Field Columbia, MO	SECN	L 10–20	11,738
October 31	12:00 p.m.	No. 5 Georgia		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	L 3–14	12,000
November 14	12:00 p.m.	Vanderbilt		Kroger Field Lexington, KY (rivalry)	SECN	W 38–35	12,000
November 21	4:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Alabama		Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	SECN	L 3–63	19,424
November 28	12:00 p.m.	at No. 6 Florida		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	ESPN	L 10–34	14,453
December 5	7:30 p.m.	South Carolina		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	W 41–18	12,000
January 2, 2021	12:00 p.m.	vs. No. 23 NC State*		TIAA Bank Field Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ESPN	W 23–21	10,422
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Central time

^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV*	23	23	RV
Coaches	RV	RV*	20	RV	RV
CFP	Not released															Not released

Game summaries

at Auburn

Kentucky vs. Auburn

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	6	0	13
Tigers	8	0	7	14	29

at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL

Date: September 26, 2020
Game time: 12:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: Temperature: 86 • Wind: N 4 mph • Weather: Mostly Sunny; 48%hum
Game attendance: 17,490
Referee: Hubert Owens
TV: SECN
^[5]

Ole Miss

Ole Miss vs. Kentucky

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels	7	7	7	21	42
Wildcats	14	7	7	13	41

at Kroger Field, Lexington, KY

Date: October 3, 2020
Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: Temperature: 70 • Wind: 9 MPH E • Weather: Mostly sunny
Game attendance: 12,000
Referee: John McDaid
TV: SECN
^[6]

Mississippi State

Kentucky vs. Mississippi State

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	2	0	2
Wildcats	0	14	0	10	24

at Kroger Field, Lexington, KY

Date: October 10, 2020
Game time: 7:30pm EST
Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
Game attendance: 12,000
Referee: Marc Curles
TV: SECN
^[7]

Tennessee

Kentucky vs. Tennessee

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	17	10	7	34
Volunteers	0	7	0	0	7

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

Date: October 17, 2020
Game time: 12:00pm EST
Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
Game attendance: 22,519
Referee: Marc Curles
TV: SECN
^[7]

Missouri

Kentucky vs. Missouri

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	3	0	7	10
Tigers	7	3	7	3	20

at Faurot Field, Columbia, MO

Date: October 24, 2020
Game time: 4:00pm EST
Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
Game attendance: 22,519
Referee: Marc Curles
TV: SECN
^[7]

Georgia

Kentucky vs. Georgia

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	0	7	0	14
Wildcats	0	3	0	0	3

at Kroger Field, Lexington, KY

Date: October 31, 2020
Game time: 12:00pm EST
Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
Game attendance: 12,000
Referee: Marc Curles
TV: SECN
^[7]

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
1	19	Jamin Davis	LB	Washington Football Team
2	44	Kelvin Joseph	CB	Dallas Cowboys
6	192	Quinton Bohanna	DT	Dallas Cowboys
6	200	Brandin Echols	CB	New York Jets
6	206	Landon Young	OT	New Orleans Saints
7	232	Phil Hoskins	DT	Carolina Panthers

References

^ "Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.
^ Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
^ Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
^ "2020 Kentucky Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
^ "KENTUCKY (1-0) -VS- SOUTHERN MISS (0-1)". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
^ "EASTERN KENTUCKY (0-2) -VS- KENTUCKY (2-0)". Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "KENTUCKY (3-0 , 1-0) -VS- SOUTH CAROLINA (2-1 , 1-1)". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

[1] "Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.

[2] Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.

[3] Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 July 2020.

[4] "2020 Kentucky Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 17, 2020.

[UKvsSMiss2017-5] "KENTUCKY (1-0) -VS- SOUTHERN MISS (0-1)". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

[UKvsEKU2017-6] "EASTERN KENTUCKY (0-2) -VS- KENTUCKY (2-0)". Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

[UKvsSC2017-7] "KENTUCKY (3-0 , 1-0) -VS- SOUTH CAROLINA (2-1 , 1-1)". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.

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