The three most important games on Kentucky football’s 2023 schedule

John Clay
·4 min read
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We’re just three weeks away from Kentucky football. With that in mind, here are the three most important games for the 2023 Wildcats:

Sept. 30: Florida at Kentucky

Not long ago, Kentucky lost 31 straight games to Florida. From 1980 through 2017, the Gators dominated the series, often in embarrassing fashion. The 1994 final: Florida 73, Kentucky 7. The 1996 final: Florida 65, Kentucky 0. The 2008 final: Florida 63, Kentucky 5.

Mark Stoops snapped the sadness in 2018 when the Cats defeated Dan Mullen’s Gators 27-16 in Gainesville. After a 20-13 storm-the-field home victory over Florida in 2021, Kentucky bested Billy Napier’s Gators 26-16 last season at The Swamp. UK had not recorded back-to-back wins over Florida since 1976-77.

Kentucky football fans storm the field after the team defeated Florida 20-13 on Oct. 2, 2021, at Kroger Field. It was first time since 1986 that the Wildcats had beaten the Gators in Lexington.
Kentucky football fans storm the field after the team defeated Florida 20-13 on Oct. 2, 2021, at Kroger Field. It was first time since 1986 that the Wildcats had beaten the Gators in Lexington.

Napier is entering his second season at UF. The former Louisiana coach has recruited well. He has a new quarterback in Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz. Still, popular opinion believes the Gators are not quite ready to challenge Georgia and Tennessee for SEC East supremacy.

So if Kentucky is to have the season Kentucky wants to have, the Wildcats must continue their mastery of the Gators. That’s twice as true considering this year’s game is at Kroger Field. UK has not beaten Florida three consecutive games since a young Bear Bryant patrolled the Kentucky sideline — 35-0 in 1949; 40-6 in 1950; 14-6 in 1951. Time for another Stoops’ breakthrough.

Nov. 4: Kentucky at Mississippi State

This being the swan song for SEC football divisional play, we can say goodbye to the yearly Kentucky-Mississippi State matchup. Oh, the Cats and Bulldogs will still play. Starting in 2024, however, the Cats will no longer make their journey every two years to Starkville to face their permanent cross-division opponent.

Those haven’t been pleasure trips. Starkville is one thing. Davis-Wade Stadium is another. Kentucky hasn’t won a football game in that venue since 2008. Since assuming UK’s reins in 2013, Stoops is 0-5 at the home of the clanging cowbells.

This year’s game offers a new twist. Zach Arnett is the new Mississippi State head coach. The defensive coordinator was promoted after the Mike Leach’s death last Dec. 12 at the age of 61. To run his offense, Arnett hired Appalachian State’s Kevin Barbay, who is expected to prefer more of a run-pass balance than Leach’s Air Raid attack.

Kentucky must take advantage of the transition. The MSU game is sandwiched between home games against Tennessee and Alabama. Tennessee trounced the Cats 44-6 in Knoxville last season. Alabama is, well, Alabama. It says here Kentucky can beat Tennessee. If the Cats cannot however, another loss to Hail State could set UK up for a three-game losing streak heading to our third-most important game.

Nov. 18: Kentucky at South Carolina

A no-brainer here. Two programs fighting over the same spot of higher ground. Kentucky aspires to be the top division challenger to Georgia and Tennessee. South Carolina aspires to be the top division challenger to Georgia and Tennessee. There’s only room for one.

Stoops is 7-3 versus the Gamecocks. That includes a five-game win streak from 2014 through 2018. The teams have split the last four meetings, however. Will Muschamp and South Carolina won 24-7 in Columbia in 2019. Kentucky won 41-18 in Lexington in 2020 and 16-10 over then new-South Carolina coach Shane Beamer in Columbia in 2021. The Gamecocks upset the Cats 24-14 last year in Lexington.

Kentucky linebacker J.J. Weaver (13) reaches to tackle South Carolina running back MarShawn Lloyd (1) during a game at Kroger Field on Oct. 8, 2022.
Kentucky linebacker J.J. Weaver (13) reaches to tackle South Carolina running back MarShawn Lloyd (1) during a game at Kroger Field on Oct. 8, 2022.

UK quarterback Will Levis missed that game because of injury. No matter. The outcome was a bitter pill. The loss was UK’s first at home to the Gamecocks since 2012 when Steve Spurrier coached South Carolina. And the triumph gave Beamer reason to push his narrative that South Carolina is a program on the rise.

Kentucky needs to return the favor. The Carolina trip is the fourth in UK’s brutal five-game regular-season home stretch — Tennessee on Oct. 28; at Mississippi State on Nov. 4; Alabama on Nov. 11; at South Carolina on Nov. 18; at Louisville on Nov. 25. A win in Columbia allows the Cats a chance of going 3-2 in that stretch, maybe even 4-1.

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