Know Your Foe: The Florida-Kentucky Rivalry

by NC_Gator on Jul 21, 2011 3:15 PM EDT in Florida Football History

For the past several weeks, we have been covering Florida's rivalries. Previous installments: Georgia, FSU, Tennessee, LSU, Miami, Auburn, and Alabama.

If I mention Kentucky as one of Florida's rivals, your first thought might be about basketball. But Florida's 61 games versus Kentucky make the Wildcats the Gators third-most common foe. While the Gators' 30-1 mark since 1980 makes the rivalry look decidedly one-sided, it belies the fact that the Wildcats held a 16-14 edge prior, with the Gators holding the advantage in the series for the first time in 1982.

Founded in 1865 (to capitalize on the Morrill Act), the University of Kentucky is situated on 784 acres in Lexington, in the heart of Kentucky's bluegrass region. Ranked No. 128 by U.S. News and World Report, UK boasts several "Top 20" programs, including geography, nursing, and entomology. Kentucky was co-educational by 1904, and racially integrated in 1949. In fact, despite the notorious racism of fabled basketball coach Adolph Rupp, Kentucky became the first SEC school to have African-American athletes on its football team.

Commonwealth Stadium (Kentucky is officially the "Commonwealth of Kentucky") was built in 1973, and has been enlarged to seat 67,000. Located on campus, but away from the concentration of academic buildings, the stadium offers picturesque views of Kentucky's horse country. The horse racing culture heavily influences the Wildcats' game day traditions.

It is difficult to find a reason for Florida fans to "hate" Kentucky football. Other than a 52-0 shutout in the teams' first meeting, a handful of close calls (e.g., 1993, 2002 and 2003), and Tim Tebow's concussion, there isn't much that the Wildcats have done to earn the ire of Gators fans.

Florida, on the other hand, has provided ample reason for Kentucky fans (at least those that care about football) to hate the annual match-up with the Gators. In the last three decades, the Wildcats have managed just one win over the Gators. From blowouts to last-second comebacks, the Gators have had their number.

The fact is, aside from its longevity, the only remarkable things about the Florida-Kentucky rivalry are the current 24-game win streak, and Florida's first SEC Championship being clinched by a 1984 win at Kentucky. (It was later stripped due to NCAA rule violations. Charley Pell, y'all.) The Wildcats' football program has been on the rise lately, with five straight bowl appearances, and as a divisional rival, it will remain an important part of the Gators' schedule.

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Comments

Yeah, those 2002 and 2003 close call games were because they had Derek Abney who decided to just annoy the crap out of us those two years. That guy could play.

Once again, excellent article NC.

Editor at Alligator Army - The Florida Gators Blog
The Florida Gators - The most despised team in all of college football - Which is fantastic.

by FlaGators on Jul 21, 2011 3:24 PM EDT reply actions

I didn’t know UK was our third most frequently-played team. Interesting. I remember that a freshman Chris Leak led the team in his first start, replacing the talented but somehow awful Ingle Martin (bless his 30-yard line drive punts).

In fairness, Martin went on to do well at Furman and play several seasons in the NFL.

Good stuff NC, I enjoy the articles in this series. I’d say they’re better than studying for the bar exam, but that would be the backhanded compliment to end all backhanded compliments. I hope we don’t run out of foes for you to write about before the season starts!

by swampchomp7 on Jul 21, 2011 4:07 PM EDT reply actions

Yep, UK fans don't like us

And Trey really didn’t make them feel any better about us last season.

If you ain't a Gator, you're Gator Bait!

by Gatorbuc15 on Jul 21, 2011 4:32 PM EDT reply actions

I had so much hope after that game. But I had a feeling it wouldn’t last.

Editor at Alligator Army - The Florida Gators Blog
The Florida Gators - The most despised team in all of college football - Which is fantastic.

by FlaGators on Jul 21, 2011 5:09 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

I did as well. :(

If you ain't a Gator, you're Gator Bait!

by Gatorbuc15 on Jul 21, 2011 5:45 PM EDT up reply actions

5 min after this game the Internet was filled with “trey burton for heisman” talk.

If you're not a Gator, you're Gatorbait!

by Gators1 on Jul 21, 2011 11:17 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

lol Yes it was.

If you ain't a Gator, you're Gator Bait!

by Gatorbuc15 on Jul 22, 2011 2:22 AM EDT up reply actions

To be honest

I was actually a little irratated that they were giving him the ball so much, like we didn’t have any other playmakers … I just don’t and didn’t see super star on this guy, granted I was thoroughlly enjoying his touchdowns, but I was still quietly wondering why not let someone else get the opportunity.

Dwight Howard - "My Gosh, what is that smell?"
Otis Smith - "That's the smell of success my man."
Dwight Howard - "No, it smells like a used Arenas... filled with... Turkoglu..."
Otis Smith - "You know, success smells like that to some people." (turns and walks toward a crowd of fans)
Fan#1 - (Disgusted) "What is that? Smells like a turd covered in burnt hair..."
Otis Smith - (Tries to act casual and walk away) "Woah, what's that smell?"

by ECFIVESTER on Jul 22, 2011 7:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Well...

We saw how well that worked the rest of the year.

by SC-Gator on Jul 22, 2011 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions

Trey scored us a few more touchdowns last season, including a big one against Georgia.

Buuuut he had a case of the fumblerooskies against fsu and Penn state, and that awful int against bama. But as a true freshman, that was a good start for him last year.

by GoGators82 on Jul 22, 2011 12:22 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Can't lay all the blame for the INT at BAma on Trey, IMO...

The overwhelming majority of it lies with the guy calling the plays and his boss…

You may not like what I have to say...but somebody has to say it...

by gatorhippy on Jul 23, 2011 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions

Your comment about Rupp...

You have an interesting article, but when you state “In fact, despite the notorious racism of fabled basketball coach Adolph Rupp, Kentucky became the first SEC school to have African-American athletes on its football team.” you lose it.

Despite what many people assume, Rupp was not against integration. The public statement he made were in favor of integration. He had coached black players going back to his days coaching high school basketball in the 1920’s, coached black players in exhibition games going back to the 1940s, held basketball clinics at historically black colleges in the 1930s and 40s etc. He was in fact the first SEC coach to recruit a black player (Wes Unseld in 1964). This was soon after UK had announced that their sports programs were open to integration (another first among SEC schools).

It’s true UK failed to sign a black player 1969 (Tom Payne who played varsity for them in 1970-71; in comparison Florida’s first black basketball player played in 1971-72) but it wasn’t for a lack of trying. UK recruited black players every year since 1964. Butch Beard signed with UK in 1965 but was held to an earlier commitment with Louisville, despite Beard enlisting a lawyer’s help to get out of it.

Jon

by JPScott100 on Aug 13, 2011 3:52 PM EDT reply actions