2014 - L, 36-30 in 3OT (Gainesville, FL)
This was the first game of the Mark Stoops era I really remember thinking that we might have found ourselves a good head coach. Kentucky was overmatched talent-wise in this game by a large margin, given that most of UK’s best players were either in their first or second year in the program. Patrick Towles completed 24/45 passes for 369 yards, 3 TD’s, and 3 INT’s. Garrett Johnson also put up 6 catches for 154 yards and 2 TD’s playing his first game back in his home state. The ‘Cats played the role of scrappy underdog very well but the defense could not hang by the late 4th quarter and OT periods, and after a missed delay of game penalty before a 4th and Goal conversion by Florida, a missed 41-yarder by Austin Macginnis in Triple OT eventually ended their hopes of an upset. “Boom” Williams’ incredible 25 yard TD catch-and-run in OT is still one of the best highlights of the Stoops era. Kentucky finished the season at 5-7 (2-6) and Florida finished 7-5 (4-4) and won the Birmingham Bowl.
2015 - L, 14-9 (Lexington, KY)
An absolute defensive slugfest with neither team gaining over 245 yards of offense on the night. Florida got out to a 14-3 halftime lead before Kentucky’s defense dug in and gave them a shot in the 2nd half. With the ball and a chance to win the game in the final minutes, Kentucky moved the ball all the way to midfield before taking a sack, followed by a false start penalty, then followed up by an INT on 4th & 22 to ice the game for Florida. “Boom” Williams was the lone bright spot for the Kentucky offense, tallying 80 yards on 16 carries. The loss would be Kentucky’s only loss in the first half of the season. They finished the season 5-7 (2-6) for the second year in a row while Florida finished 10-4 (7-1), winning the SEC East, but lost the Citrus Bowl in blowout fashion to Michigan, 41-7.
2016 - L, 45-7 (Gainesville, FL)
One of the worst losses of the Mark Stoops era. Coming off of a season-opening loss to Southern Miss where UK blew a significant lead in the 2nd half, the ‘Cats never really stood a chance in this game. They were outgained in total yards 564-149, turned the ball over 4 times, and Kentucky managed to complete only 3/14 passes for 55 yards the entire game. We would later find out that Drew Barker had suffered a fairly severe back injury in the previous game and was attempting to play through it, but he only ever took a handful of more snaps in a Kentucky uniform after this game. Stephen Johnson got his first playing time and completed a 45 yard pass to Jeff Badet late in the game. Kentucky rebounded to finish the year 7-6 (4-4) and lost to Georgia Tech in the TaxSlayer Bowl, while Florida finished that season 9-4 (6-2) with another East Title and a dominant Outback Bowl win over Iowa.
2017 - L, 28-27 (Lexington, KY)
One of the more heartbreaking losses in the Mark Stoops era. Kentucky was in complete control of this game in the 3rd quarter, eventually pushing the lead to 27-14 with 11 minutes to go. A series of poor coaching decisions and missed opportunities in the 4th quarter eventually came to a head when UK left Florida WR Freddie Swain completely unguarded for a 5-yard TD to take the lead with 43 seconds left. A roughing the passer penalty on the first play of the next drive put UK in Florida territory immediately, but an extremely questionable holding call on a Benny Snell run to set up the winning field goal pushed UK back from the 25-yard line to the 45-yard line. Two plays later, Austin Macginnis would come up just short on 57-yard FG to win the game. Kentucky would finish the season 7-6 (4-4) with a loss to Northwestern in the Music City Bowl, while Florida finished the year 4-7 (3-5).
2018 - W, 27-16 (Gainesville, FL)
A cathartic win for the UK fan base, as a 31-game losing streak to the Gators was finally snapped. Terry Wilson played the game of his life in this one, passing for 151 yards and 2 TD’s and rushing for 105 with another TD. Benny Snell also put up 175 yards yards on the ground and essentially iced the game in the 4th quarter for the Wildcats. It felt like Kentucky dominated this game from start to finish, although the final score was still in doubt until Feleipe Franks was strip sacked by Josh Allen on the final play of the game, leading to a Davonte Robinson TD. Kentucky finished the year ranked #12 at 10-3 (5-3) with a Citrus Bowl win over Penn State. Florida finished 10-3 (5-3) with a 41-15 Peach Bowl win over Michigan.
2019 - L, 29-21 (Lexington, KY)
This game was the 2nd straight tough loss in Lexington to the Gators. Kentucky dominated the first 45 minutes of this one, taking a 21-10 lead into the 4th Quarter before giving up 19 unanswered points. In the first game after losing Terry Wilson for the season, Sawyer Smith looked like a high-quality replacement before fracturing his wrist making a tackle after an INT. Without any capable QB’s to put in the game, Kentucky stuck it out with Smith, however he ended up throwing another crucial INT as the offense stagnated in the 4th. On the other side, an injured Feleipe Franks was replaced with Kyle Trask, who proved to be an even better QB than the starter. With 3 minutes left in the game, Chance Poore missed a 35-yard field goal that was the dagger for Kentucky’s chances.
2020 - L 34-10 (Gainesville, FL)
After holding firm in the first half, and going into halftime only down 14-10, Kentucky’s lack of depth doomed them in the 2nd half. Future #4 overall draft pick Kyle Pitts had 99 receiving yards and 3 TD’s and was too much for a depleted Kentucky defense to handle, especially just one week following a 60-point beat down from Alabama. Kentucky’s passing ineptitude was on full display again, only gaining 62 passing yards and Chris Rodriguez remained out for the 2nd straight week. Kentucky finished the season 5-6 (4-6) with a win over NC State in the TaxSlayer Bowl, while Florida finished 8-4 (8-2) with a 55-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
This was the first game of the Mark Stoops era I really remember thinking that we might have found ourselves a good head coach. Kentucky was overmatched talent-wise in this game by a large margin, given that most of UK’s best players were either in their first or second year in the program. Patrick Towles completed 24/45 passes for 369 yards, 3 TD’s, and 3 INT’s. Garrett Johnson also put up 6 catches for 154 yards and 2 TD’s playing his first game back in his home state. The ‘Cats played the role of scrappy underdog very well but the defense could not hang by the late 4th quarter and OT periods, and after a missed delay of game penalty before a 4th and Goal conversion by Florida, a missed 41-yarder by Austin Macginnis in Triple OT eventually ended their hopes of an upset. “Boom” Williams’ incredible 25 yard TD catch-and-run in OT is still one of the best highlights of the Stoops era. Kentucky finished the season at 5-7 (2-6) and Florida finished 7-5 (4-4) and won the Birmingham Bowl.
2015 - L, 14-9 (Lexington, KY)
An absolute defensive slugfest with neither team gaining over 245 yards of offense on the night. Florida got out to a 14-3 halftime lead before Kentucky’s defense dug in and gave them a shot in the 2nd half. With the ball and a chance to win the game in the final minutes, Kentucky moved the ball all the way to midfield before taking a sack, followed by a false start penalty, then followed up by an INT on 4th & 22 to ice the game for Florida. “Boom” Williams was the lone bright spot for the Kentucky offense, tallying 80 yards on 16 carries. The loss would be Kentucky’s only loss in the first half of the season. They finished the season 5-7 (2-6) for the second year in a row while Florida finished 10-4 (7-1), winning the SEC East, but lost the Citrus Bowl in blowout fashion to Michigan, 41-7.
2016 - L, 45-7 (Gainesville, FL)
One of the worst losses of the Mark Stoops era. Coming off of a season-opening loss to Southern Miss where UK blew a significant lead in the 2nd half, the ‘Cats never really stood a chance in this game. They were outgained in total yards 564-149, turned the ball over 4 times, and Kentucky managed to complete only 3/14 passes for 55 yards the entire game. We would later find out that Drew Barker had suffered a fairly severe back injury in the previous game and was attempting to play through it, but he only ever took a handful of more snaps in a Kentucky uniform after this game. Stephen Johnson got his first playing time and completed a 45 yard pass to Jeff Badet late in the game. Kentucky rebounded to finish the year 7-6 (4-4) and lost to Georgia Tech in the TaxSlayer Bowl, while Florida finished that season 9-4 (6-2) with another East Title and a dominant Outback Bowl win over Iowa.
2017 - L, 28-27 (Lexington, KY)
One of the more heartbreaking losses in the Mark Stoops era. Kentucky was in complete control of this game in the 3rd quarter, eventually pushing the lead to 27-14 with 11 minutes to go. A series of poor coaching decisions and missed opportunities in the 4th quarter eventually came to a head when UK left Florida WR Freddie Swain completely unguarded for a 5-yard TD to take the lead with 43 seconds left. A roughing the passer penalty on the first play of the next drive put UK in Florida territory immediately, but an extremely questionable holding call on a Benny Snell run to set up the winning field goal pushed UK back from the 25-yard line to the 45-yard line. Two plays later, Austin Macginnis would come up just short on 57-yard FG to win the game. Kentucky would finish the season 7-6 (4-4) with a loss to Northwestern in the Music City Bowl, while Florida finished the year 4-7 (3-5).
2018 - W, 27-16 (Gainesville, FL)
A cathartic win for the UK fan base, as a 31-game losing streak to the Gators was finally snapped. Terry Wilson played the game of his life in this one, passing for 151 yards and 2 TD’s and rushing for 105 with another TD. Benny Snell also put up 175 yards yards on the ground and essentially iced the game in the 4th quarter for the Wildcats. It felt like Kentucky dominated this game from start to finish, although the final score was still in doubt until Feleipe Franks was strip sacked by Josh Allen on the final play of the game, leading to a Davonte Robinson TD. Kentucky finished the year ranked #12 at 10-3 (5-3) with a Citrus Bowl win over Penn State. Florida finished 10-3 (5-3) with a 41-15 Peach Bowl win over Michigan.
2019 - L, 29-21 (Lexington, KY)
This game was the 2nd straight tough loss in Lexington to the Gators. Kentucky dominated the first 45 minutes of this one, taking a 21-10 lead into the 4th Quarter before giving up 19 unanswered points. In the first game after losing Terry Wilson for the season, Sawyer Smith looked like a high-quality replacement before fracturing his wrist making a tackle after an INT. Without any capable QB’s to put in the game, Kentucky stuck it out with Smith, however he ended up throwing another crucial INT as the offense stagnated in the 4th. On the other side, an injured Feleipe Franks was replaced with Kyle Trask, who proved to be an even better QB than the starter. With 3 minutes left in the game, Chance Poore missed a 35-yard field goal that was the dagger for Kentucky’s chances.
2020 - L 34-10 (Gainesville, FL)
After holding firm in the first half, and going into halftime only down 14-10, Kentucky’s lack of depth doomed them in the 2nd half. Future #4 overall draft pick Kyle Pitts had 99 receiving yards and 3 TD’s and was too much for a depleted Kentucky defense to handle, especially just one week following a 60-point beat down from Alabama. Kentucky’s passing ineptitude was on full display again, only gaining 62 passing yards and Chris Rodriguez remained out for the 2nd straight week. Kentucky finished the season 5-6 (4-6) with a win over NC State in the TaxSlayer Bowl, while Florida finished 8-4 (8-2) with a 55-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.
