Cats rally past adversity, Iowa to win Citrus Bowl
Kentucky's Wan'Dale Robinson made a diving catch between two Iowa defenders to convert a third-and-long play on Saturday in the Citrus Bowl. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
ORLANDO -- Against the odds, Kentucky has won four consecutive bowl games for the first time in program history.
The Wildcats, playing without several key players due to Covid-19 issues and a few more knocked out with injuries, rallied for a 20-17 victory over No. 15 Iowa on Saturday in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium.
Trailing by four with 3:31 remaining and struggling to sustain drives for most of the day with a patchwork offensive line, No. 22 Kentucky came through when it mattered most. Quarterback Will Levis connected with receiver Wan'Dale Robinson on a 52-yard pass play to the Iowa 1-yard line, and Chris Rodriguez scored on a six-yard touchdown run with 1:48 remaining to put the Cats back in the lead.
"It is really hard to describe what he has meant to us," UK head coach Mark Stoops said of Robinson, who was named Citrus Bowl MVP after catching 10 passes for 170 yards despite being the only regular starter available to the Cats at receiver on this day.
"He is the ultimate competitor, and he is very selfless. He plays extremely hard. He plays the game for himself, his family, his teammates, this institution, the state. Just plays so hard and makes such competitive plays in big moments."
Added UK grad senior center Luke Fortner, who capped his career with a second Citrus Bowl victory to go along with two other rings: "Any time you have Will Levis and Wan'Dale on the field at the same time, you know there's a chance."
Charged with making that score hold up, Kentucky's defense -- missing four of its best players in defensive end Josh Paschal and linebackers Jacquez Jones, J.J. Weaver, and Trevin Wallace -- came up with its third consecutive stop with the game hanging in the balance.
DeAndre Square, who had left the game with a painful foot injury in the third quarter, returned to intercept a pass by Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras with 48 seconds remaining and the Hawkeyes nearing range for a potential game-tying field goal. Another UK veteran, senior safety Yusuf Corker, helped force the interception with his blitz pressure on Petras.
Square, a senior linebacker, acknowledged that he was hurting badly and was even ruled out of returning to the game. But he got inspiration from teammates Marquan McCall and Chris Oats, the latter who recovered a fumble to help seal UK's Citrus Bowl win over Penn State on New Year's Day 2019. Oats suffered a severe stroke last year, but was on the sideline with the Cats on Saturday to cheer for them.
"When I saw him out there today, I just knew that I was going to have the ball at some point," Square said. "I was planning on running to give it to him, but the ref snatched it from me, so I couldn't do that. But yeah, that's another person I thought about when I just wanted to be just like, yeah, I'm in pain and I want to stop, and I thought about him. I am like, I have got to go. I have got to do this."
Stoops praised his team for playing hard, playing together, and overcoming so much adversity.
"We knew it would be a 60-minute football game and, again, it was," he said. "Our team is used to playing a lot of close games, tough games, against quality opponents, and that was the case today."
It gave Kentucky (10-3) its second 10-win season in the last four years under Stoops.
In addition to Robinson's big performance, the Cats got 107 yards rushing, a rushing touchdown, and a receiving touchdown from Rodriguez. He helped stake UK to a 7-0 lead on its first possession of the day with a 5-yard TD pass from Levis.
Iowa (10-4) trailed 13-3 at the half but rallied to take a 17-13 lead in the third and fourth quarters on a 20-yard run by Arlan Bruce IV and a 36-yard touchdown pass from Petras to tight end Sam LaPorta.
The Hawkeyes finished with a slight advantage in total yards (384-354) and recorded six sacks but lost the turnover battle and failed on a red-zone scoring opportunity while UK went 4-for-4 on the day.
"Heck of a football game," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. "We knew coming in, it was going to be a tough, physical, competitive game. Kentucky has a good team, veteran team, and very physical team, so congratulations to them, Coach Stoops and everybody involved with their program."
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...
KEY MOMENT:
Kentucky's defense, which appeared to be on the ropes midway through the fourth quarter after giving up a pair of touchdowns that put Iowa in the lead, forced two punts and came up with an interception with the game on the line. Without any of those stops, Will Levis' late, game-winning drive may not have occurred.
GAME BALL:
Wan'Dale Robinson, Kentucky -- The junior transfer from Nebraska may have exceeded even the wildest expectations that Big Blue Nation set for him when he returned home to play for the Wildcats. This may have been his final game in a UK uniform with the NFL beckoning the sensational playmaker. If so, he went out with a bang. His 10 catches and 170 receiving yards are both school records for a bowl game. His 1,334 receiving yards also broke the single-season record of 1,311 set by Craig Yeast in 1998. With 104 catches, he is the first player in UK history to top the 100 mark in a season.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Meeting between the Kentucky and Iowa programs in football.
+2 - Turnover margin for Cats over the Hawkeyes. UK entered the game tied for last in the nation at -13 on the season.
3 - Passes intercepted by the Cats, tying the school record for a bowl game set last year against NC State in the Gator Bowl.
4th - Time that the Cats have won 10 games in a season, joining the 1950 (11-1), 1977 (10-1) and 2018 (10-3) teams.
9th - 100-yard rushing effort for UK's Chris Rodriguez this season, breaking Artose Pinner's school record set in 2002.
12-9 - Kentucky's all-time record in bowl games, including four straight wins.
16 - Straight non-conference wins for UK. The Cats and Hawkeyes entered the matchup tied for the longest streak in the nation at 15.
QUOTABLE:
"This is the standard, 10 wins. That is what it is. Every year from now on, you want to win 10 or more." -- UK's Wan'Dale Robinson on the future of the program.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky goes into an off-season for the fourth consecutive time with major momentum from a bowl victory. Decisions loom for key players like Wan'Dale Robinson and Chris Rodriguez Jr., among others. Mark Stoops & Co. will add the highest-rated recruiting class in program history in taking aim at a fifth straight bowl win next season.
