Kentucky wins 8th of 2019, Belk Bowl Champions over the Virginia Tech Hokies.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – December 31, 2019 – Bradley Charles –
Bluegrass Sports Nation
The Cats fell behind early, trailing 17-7 with 10:20 to play
in the first half. However, the Cats were able to chip into the Hokie lead with
a two-yard touchdown run by Chris Rodriguez with 53 seconds remaining in the
second quarter. Rodriguez’s touchdown run came on an eight-play, 64-yard drive
that lasted just over four minutes. That made the score 17-14 after the first
half.
The Cats tied the game on the opening drive of the third
quarter, thanks to a 40-yard field goal by Matt Ruffolo. However, the Hokies
answered back on the following possession with a touchdown drive which was
capped off by a 43-yard run by Deshawn McClease to make the score 24-17 in
favor of the Hokies.
On the ensuing possession, Lynn Bowden scored on a 61-yard
touchdown run to tie the game, 24-24. The Hokies responded with a 40-yard field
goal by Brian Johnson. The Cats would fumble on their next possession setting
up the Hokies at the UK 39-yard line. Virginia Tech worked their way into the
red zone and found themselves facing a 4th and 3 from the Kentucky 9-yard line
with under 13 minutes to go in the game. The Hokies decided to kick the field
goal making the score 30-24.
When asked about that decision, Virginia Tech head coach
Justin Fuente said, “There’s so much time left, you know. I don’t know what
time of possession was after that. I feel like they had the ball most of the
time. So yeah, I thought about it. Felt like there was so much time left in the
game that we kicked it.”
Kentucky turned the ball over on the following possession
via an interception, but the Hokie offense went three-and-out. The Kentucky
offense took over at the Virginia Tech 15-yard line with 8:25 to play in the
game.
The Kentucky offense came through for BBN as they put
together an 18-play, 85-yard drive which resulted in a 13-yard touchdown pass
from Lynn Bowden to Josh Ali with 15 seconds to play in the game. Matt Ruffolo
converted on the extra point attempt giving the Cats a 31-30 lead.
The first two plays for the Hokies resulted in
incompletions. On the final play of the game, Virginia Tech fumbled the ball
and Kentucky’s Jordan Wright recovered the fumble and took it 28 yards to the
house for a UK touchdown.
After the game, Coach Stoops had this to say about his team,
“I love this football team, our players, their fight and their determination,
and once again, just greatly appreciate our staff for what they’ve done.”
Important Stats/Info:
Lynn Bowden is a
phenomenal football player. Bowden finished the game with 34 carriers for 233
rushing yards and two touchdowns while going 6-of-12 through the air for 73
yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
After the game, Bowden gave a passionate speech on the
podium and gave high-fives to fans who made the trip to Charlotte. At the
postgame press conference, Bowden was asked why he showed BBN so much love, to
which he replied, “The fans, they drove a long way from Kentucky. So, they
coming down here to support us, you know, I’ve got to show my love for them
just as they love me. I wouldn’t feel right if I just left, especially my last
game. I want to make sure everybody feel love from me.”
A.J. Rose
finished the game with 10 carries for 69 yards. As a whole, the Cats rushed for
331 yards on 55 carries.
Kash Daniel
tallied eight total tackles in his final game as a Wildcat.
Kentucky was
6-of-13 on third down and a perfect 3-for-3 on fourth down, while Virginia Tech was 4-for-11 on third
down and 1-of-1 on fourth down.
Analysis:
Kentucky football has finally made it. The Cats have
established themselves as a high-caliber program that is trending upwards.
Between this season and last season, the Cats are (18-8, 8-8 SEC) while also
owning a (12-3) record in home games. In that times, UK has victories over
Florida, Penn State, Mississippi State, South Carolina, Missouri (2), Virginia
Tech, Arkansas, and two blowout victories over the Louisville Cardinals.
That is an incredible two-year run. Let’s not forget the
less than ideal history of this program and where this program was when Stoops
took control. Keep in mind that UK went (4-20, 0-16 SEC) between Joker
Phillips’ last year in charge of the program and Mark Stoops’ first year in
control.
Ultimately, this is a new era of UK football. After the
game, Mitch Barnhart said it the best, “We used to, I think, hope we would win,
but now we’re finding ways to say we sort of expect to win. We’re going to find
a way to grit one out.” Barnhart went on to acknowledge that some of the games
that the Cats have won recently have been in convincing fashion.
Mark Stoops and the Cats have something special going on in
Lexington and I am excited to see the future of Kentucky football.
