Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s big win over Florida

Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s 33-14 win over the Florida Gators on Saturday at Kroger Field:

1. Kentucky shows itself to be a contender

They heard the whispers. You know they did. Sure, the Kentucky Wildcats were 4-0, but who had they played? A pair of bad MAC teams in Ball State and Akron. An FCS team in Eastern Kentucky. And Vanderbilt, their first and only SEC foe to date. Plus, Mark Stoops’ squad had not been overly impressive in any of those four.

Florida was different. Florida was, well, Florida. The Gators were ranked 22nd in the latest AP Top 25 poll. They had beaten then 11th-ranked Tennessee. And the Gators had not lost three straight games to Kentucky since 1948-51. A long, long time ago. Florida was a chance for Kentucky to show just what the Cats could do.

Did they ever. Kentucky led 16-0 at the end of the first quarter; 24-7 at the half, 30-7 five minutes into the third quarter. By afternoon’s end, Kentucky had d-d-d- dominated a Florida program that had dominated the Cats so many times in the past.

The Kentucky offense gained 329 yards rushing, shredding a Florida defense that ranked fifth nationally in total defense and 15th in rushing defense.

The Kentucky defense came up with an early turnover — Trevin Wallace’s interception of Graham Mertz — and limited the feared Florida rushing attack to all of 69 yards on 29 carries.

In his postgame press conference, Stoops was quick to say that his team was far from perfect, that there’s more on the table. But he also said: “We showed how good a football team we can be when we put it all together.”

2. Ray Davis can be Mark Stoops’ best back yet

After his monster game in which he ran for 280 yards and scored four touchdowns, Ray Davis said the following, “I know I have some big shoes to fill.”

In the Stoops era, we’re talking the great Benny Snell and the great Chris Rodriguez, but Davis’ performance Saturday brought back memories of another standout Kentucky running back. On Sept. 23, 1995, a rainy day in Columbia, South Carolina, Moe Williams ran for 299 yards and gained 429 all-purpose yards in UK’s 35-30 win over the Gamecocks.

Davis didn’t match that Saturday, but he came awfully close. The transfer from Vanderbilt set the tone early, gaining 60 yards on five carries on the Cats’ first possession, which ended with a field goal. Next drive, Davis took a pass from Devin Leary and carried a group of Gators into the end zone for a 9-yard score.

Next march, after Florida was called for a leaping penalty on a UK punt, giving the home team a first down, Davis made the Gators pay by sprinting 75 yards for a touchdown and a 16-0 Kentucky lead.

Davis wasn’t done yet. Next drive, his runs of 16 and 33 yards set up his own 3-yard touchdown run. First series of the second half, after Florida had pulled to within 23-7 at the break, Davis ripped off a 31-yard run to set up his own 2-yard score, quashing any Florida momentum.

“I didn’t do much today,” Davis said afterward. “I gotta give credit to the line, the tight ends, the receivers. The O-line, today they showed up.”

Davis is a different runner. He can be a bruiser like Benny Snell. He has a burst a bit like Chris Rodriguez. He’s better than either at catching the ball out of the backfield. He’s also a patient runner, one who can feel his blocks and pick his holes. After the EKU game, the coaches thought Davis got a little greedy with his choices. They urged him to be patient, then go. Davis did exactly that Saturday. And then some.

3. Kentucky’s next step is big, bad Georgia

Mark Stoops has now won three straight over Florida. He’s beaten Tennessee twice. He’s beaten Missouri and South Carolina and Vanderbilt. In this, the final year of the SEC East, the only divisional foe he’s failed to top is Georgia.

There’s no shame in that. The Bulldogs have won back-to-back national championships. They entered Saturday’s game at Auburn again ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25. They have a chance to accomplish college football’s first three-peat since Minnesota back in the 1930s.

And in the Stoops’ era, the Cats have given respectable efforts against the Dogs. They lost 14-3 in Lexington in 2020, 30-13 in Athens in 2021, and 16-6 at Kroger Field last season.

Next Saturday at 7 p.m., they get another shot. It’s at Sanford Stadium, where UK hasn’t won since Rich Brooks’ Cats defeated Mark Richt’s Bulldogs 34-27 in 2009.

If Florida was a test to determine this Kentucky team’s ability, Georgia will be a test of this Kentucky team’s ceiling.

College football final: Kentucky 33, Florida 14

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Final statistics from Kentucky football’s 33-14 win over No. 22 Florida