< Previouswin came during his first year as Kentucky again victimized Ole Miss and Archie Manning. The Cats upset the Rebels, 10-9, in Lexington. The Fran Curci era began in 1973, the same year Kentucky moved from ancient Stoll Field/McLean Stadium to spacious Common-wealth Stadium. Though Curci had only one winning campaign during his first three years, things got interesting be- ginning with the 1976 season. UK ended the ’76 year with an 8-3 record and its second SEC cham- pionship. Kentucky helped secure its second league title on the strength of a 62-yard touchdown pass from Derrick Ramsey to Greg Woods to beat Tennes- see, 7-0, at Knoxville, Tenn. The victory clinched a berth in the Peach Bowl against North Caroli- na, UK’s first postseason appearance in 25 years. Before a UK contingent estimated at 25,000, the Cats blanked the Tar Heels, 21-0. The following year, Kentucky went on NCAA probation. Despite an early season loss at Baylor, the Wildcats rolled to an impressive 10-1 record doing it the hard way. Kentucky defeated Penn State (24-20) in University Park, Pa., defeated LSU (33-13) in Baton Rouge, La., blanked Georgia (33-0) in Athens, Ga., and beat Florida (14-7) in Gainesville, Fla. In the Curci era, players like Sonny Collins (UK career leader with 3,835 yards rushing), All-Americans Warren Bryant and Art Still and multi-talented Derrick Ramsey, wore the blue and white. In all, Curci worked nine years, the longest term of any UK head coach. Jerry Claiborne answered the call of his alma mater in December of 1981 and was named the school’s 31st head football coach. Claiborne had played at UK from 1946-49 and was an assistant coach under Bryant at UK in 1952-53. After an 0-10-1 mark in Claiborne’s first sea- son, his 1983 squad tied for the nation’s most im- proved program with a regular-season record of 6-4-1 and a berth in the Hall of Fame Bowl. Kentucky improved in 1984, finishing with a 9-3 record which included a thrilling 20-19 win over Wisconsin in the ’84 Hall of Fame Bowl. Claiborne won 41 games during his eight seasons with the Wildcats. Claiborne and Bryant are the only two UK coaches to win at least five games in seven consecutive seasons. During Claiborne’s tenure, Kentucky captured the 1989 CFA Academic Achievement Award. UK led the SEC in SEC Academic Honor Roll selec- tions (68) during the Claiborne era, including a then-league record of 17 players named to the 1989 honor roll. Individually, quarterback Bill Ransdell played under Claiborne and left as UK’s all-time leader in passing and total offense. Mark Higgs departed as the school’s second-leading rusher and tackle Oliver Barnett set a UK record with 26 quarterback sacks. After Claiborne’s retirement, Bill Curry took over as head coach in 1990. The highlight of Curry’s term came in 1993 as the Wildcats played in the Peach Bowl. In 1994, the Wildcats faced intrastate rival Louisville for the first time in 70 years and defeat- ed the Cardinals 20-14 in front of a then-record 59,162 fans in Commonwealth Stadium. The 1995 season was highlighted by tailback Moe Williams, who rushed for 1,600 yards, broke three SEC records, and broke or tied 15 school records. Williams had 429 all-purpose yards in a win at South Carolina, the second-highest sin- gle-game total in NCAA history. The arrival of Coach Hal Mumme in 1997 unleashed a lightning bolt of enthusiasm for Ken- tucky football. Mumme’s dynamic “Air Raid” of- fense put UK among the national leaders in pass- ing yardage and total offense and the ’97 team broke or tied 51 school records and 15 South- eastern Conference records. Kentucky returned to the bowl scene in 1998 when the Wildcats won seven games. Quar- terback Tim Couch was a first-team All-Ameri- can, SEC Player of the Year, and a finalist for the Heisman Trophy while rewriting NCAA, SEC, and UK record books. Wide receiver Craig Yeast be- came the leading pass catcher in SEC history. The Wildcats capped their season by playing Penn State in the Outback Bowl, the school’s first New Year’s Day bowl game in 47 years. Following the Outback Bowl season, Com- monwealth Stadium was expanded. UK enclosed both end zones and added personal suites in time for the 1999 season, boosting seating capacity to 67,606. The Wildcats celebrated the stadium ex- pansion with another bowl season. All-America tight end James Whalen helped lead UK to the 1999 HomePoint.com Music City Bowl, marking the school’s first back-to-back bowl appearances since 1983-84. Guy Morriss coached the Wildcats in 2001- 02. He guided UK to seven wins in ‘02, but the Wildcats could not go to a bowl game because of NCAA probation. Derek Abney returned six kicks for touchdowns, more than any player in one sea- son in NCAA history, and was named first-team All-America along with punter Glenn Pakulak. Pakulak emerged as the best punter in school his- tory and won the Mosi Tatupu Award as National Special Teams Player of the Year. Inheriting a roster weakened by probation was the major obstacle for Rich Brooks when he took over as head coach in 2003. Brooks’ re- building efforts began bearing fruit in 2006. The Wildcats had their best season in 22 years by winning eight games, including a 28-20 upset of highly favored Clemson in the Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl. Led by quarterback Andre’ Woodson, tailback Rafael Little, wide receiver Keenan Burton, tight end Jacob Tamme and linebacker Wesley Woody- ard, the 2007 season contained some of the most exciting moments in school history. UK notched its first win over a Top-10 oppo- nent in 30 years with a dramatic comeback victo- ry over No. 9 Louisville. UK reached the Top-10 rankings for the first time since 1977 and the pop- ular “ESPN GameDay” crew made its first visit to campus. UK also knocked off No. 1-ranked LSU -- the eventual national champion -- with a 43-37 triple-overtime thriller. The campaign was capped with another Music City Bowl win, this time over traditional power Florida State. Kentucky capped the 2008 season with a win over East Carolina in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, the first time in school history that UK won bowl games in three consecutive seasons. Brooks retired following the 2009 season, handing the reins to former Wildcat player and long-time assistant coach Joker Phillips. Sparked by All-America receiver Randall Cobb, Phillips became the first head coach in UK history to take the Wildcats to a bowl game in his first season, completing a school-record streak of five-straight postseason appearances. Another highlight of Phillips’ term was ending the 26-year losing streak vs. Tennessee with a 10-7 win over the Volunteers in 2011. A new era began in 2013 with the hiring of Mark Stoops as head coach. Stoops and his staff are making a huge impact and returned the Wild- cats to bowl action in 2016. Kentucky Football History 38 @UKFootball All-America quarterback Tim Couch led Kentucky to its first New Year’s Day Bowl appearance in 47 years in the 1999 Outback Bowl. Art Still earned consensus first-team All-America honors at defensive end in 1977.Kentucky Bowl History 40 @UKFootball Andre’ Woodson was named MVP of UK’s 2006 and 2007 Music City Bowl wins. Benny Snell Jr. was named MVP of the 2019 VRBO Citrus Bowl. Walt Yowarsky was named the Most Valuable Player of UK’s 1951 Sugar Bowl triumph over Oklahoma, ending the Sooners’ 31-game win streak. Jim Howe returns a kickoff in Kentucky’s first bowl appearance, a 24-14 victory over Villanova in the 1947 Great Lakes Bowl. The Wildcats celebrate their 20-19 win over Wisconsin in the 1984 Hall of Fame Bowl. All-Time Record: 9-9 Great Lakes Bowl Dec. 6, 1947: UK 24, Villanova 14 Orange Bowl Jan. 2, 1950: Santa Clara 21,UK 13 Sugar Bowl Jan. 1, 1951: UK 13, Oklahoma 7 MVP: Walt Yowarsky Cotton Bowl Jan. 1, 1952: Kentucky 20, TCU 7 MVPs: Emery Clark, Ray Correll, Babe Parilli Peach Bowl Dec. 31, 1976: UK 21, North Carolina 0 Off. MVP: Rod Stewart Def. MVP: Mike Martin Hall of Fame Bowl Dec. 22, 1983: West Virginia 20, UK 16 UK MVP: George Adams Hall of Fame Bowl Dec. 29, 1984: UK 20, Wisconsin 19 MVP: Marc Logan Peach Bowl Dec. 31, 1993: Clemson 14, UK 13 UK Offensive MVP: Pookie Jones UK Defensive MVP: Zane Beehn Outback Bowl Jan. 1, 1999: Penn State 26, UK 14 HomePoint.com Music City Bowl Dec. 29, 1999: Syracuse 20, UK 13 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Dec. 29, 2006: UK 28, Clemson 20 MVP: Andre’ Woodson Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Dec. 31, 2007: UK 35, Florida State 28 MVP: Andre’ Woodson AutoZone Liberty Bowl Jan. 2, 2009: UK 25, East Carolina 19 MVP: Ventrell Jenkins UK Offensive MVP: Mike Hartline UK Defensive MVP: Braxton Kelley Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl Dec. 27, 2009: Clemson 21, UK 13 BBVA Compass Bowl Jan. 8, 2011: Pittsburgh 27, UK 10 TaxSlayer Bowl Dec. 31, 2016: Georgia Tech 33, UK 18 UK MVP: Stephen Johnson Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl Dec. 29, 2017: Northwestern 24, UK 23 VRBO Citrus Bowl Jan. 1, 2019: UK 27, Penn State 24 MVP: Benny Snell Jr. Kentucky in the Bowls Kroger Field 42 @UKFootball First Game n Sept. 15, 1973 (UK 31, Virginia Tech 26) Largest Crowd Since 2015 Renovation n 63,407, 2015 (UK 27, Auburn 30) Kroger Field Record n 162-133-4 (.549), 26-17 (.604) under Mark Stoops Field Name n C.M. Newton Grounds in honor of the former UK Director of Athletics Seating Capacity n 61,000, including the Kroger Field Suites. n UK announced its first sellout since 2010 when 62,933 fans attended the season opener vs. Louisiana Lafayette on Sept. 5, 2015. Attendance n Since the 1999 expansion, UK has averaged 61,709 fans per game and ranked in the nation’s top 30 teams in attendance in 16 of the last 18 seasons. Both the single game and season attendance record has been broken in recent years. Playing Field n UK switched from natural grass to synthetic turf for the 2015 season. Other SEC schools with a turf surface are: Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Missouri. n The end zones and team sideline areas feature a checkerboard pattern in alternating shades of blue. It was designed to mimic the pattern of Secretariat’s silks, which has been part of the football uniforms for five seasons. The school’s new interlocking “UK” logo is positioned in the center of the field. Video Boards n Video boards by Daktronics measuring at 39 by 79 feet, each, bring a total of 6,162 square feet of video capability. The video boards put UK among the nation’s leaders in video square footage. The interior seating bowl also has LED ribbon boards. Sound System n Sportsound system delivers pounding bass energy, smooth mid- and high-range frequencies, and high-impact entertainment. Components of the sound system include a main speaker cluster behind the end zone, under-balcony speakers and concourse speakers. 1. 63,543 Georgia 2018 2. 63,407 Auburn 2015 3. 63,380 EKU 2015 4. 63,040 Florida 2015 5. 62,933 UL Lafayette 2015 * Since 2015 Renovation 1973 When first constructed in 1973 as Commonwealth Stadium, Kroger Field had a capacity of 57,800 and was completed at a cost of $12 million by the firm of Huber, Hunt and Nichols. The stadium and parking areas rest on an 86-acre plot that was once part of the UK Experimental Station Farm Grounds. The stadium was officially opened on Sept. 15, 1973, as the Wildcats moved into their new home after spending 48 years at Stoll Field/McLean Stadium across from Memorial Coliseum. Kentucky defeated Virginia Tech in the stadium opener, 31-26, as quarterback Ernie Lewis ran for two touchdowns and threw for another TD to lead the Wildcats. 1999 The stadium was expanded in 1999. Both end zones were enclosed, along with the construction of 40 suites, 10 in each corner of the stadium. The project was handled by HNTB of Kansas City, Mo., and Turner Construction of Cincinnati, Ohio. A total of $27.6 million was allocated for the expansion, which also included the original Mitsubishi Diamond Vision video boards, new scoreboards and additional restrooms and concession stands. The attendance capacity was 67,942 in 2012. 2015 Kroger Field was transformed into a state-of-the-art facility after a $120-million reinvention which was completed prior to the 2015 season. The project was also handled by HNTB. The outside of the stadium underwent a dramatic external facelift, receiving a modern look, but one that remained uniquely Kentucky. Inside, the capacity of Kroger Field was reduced over the course of the two-year project to approximately 61,000, but the value of all remaining seats were increased, from the top of the upper deck to front-row seats at midfield. Concourses were revamped and widened throughout the stadium with improved concessions, restrooms and security. Players and coaches reaped the benefits of the new Kroger Field as well, as home-team facilities were built, while a new multi-purpose recruiting room hosts future Wildcats on their on-campus visits. Kroger Field Quick Facts Top Home Attendances Kroger Field 44 @UKFootball KENTUCKY FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE IN KROGER FIELD Former Kentucky linebacker Terry Clayton, who is deaf, could not hear the roar of the crowd at Kroger Field. “But,” Clayton said, “I can feel the rumble!” Year .............. G ..................Total ...... Avg./Game 1973............. 5 ............. 250,055 ............. 50,011 1974............. 6 ............. 328,785 ............. 54,797 1975............. 6 ............. 341,204 ............. 56,867 1976............. 7 ............. 393,483 ............. 56,211 1977............. 5 ............. 288,990 ............. 57,798 1978............. 6 ............. 346,341 ............. 57,723 1979............. 5 ............. 289,042 ............. 57,808 1980............. 7 ............. 392,898 ............. 56,128 1981............. 6 ............. 334,837 ............. 55,809 1982............. 6 ............. 329,207 ............. 54,867 1983............. 7 ............. 395,365 ............. 56,480 1984............. 7 ............. 387,959 ............. 55,422 1985............. 7 ............. 398,788 ............. 56,969 1986............. 7 ............. 384,802 ............. 54,971 1987............. 6 ............. 331,923 ............. 55,321 1988............. 7 ............. 337,972 ............. 48,292 1989............. 7 ............. 374,248 ............. 53,464 Year .............. G ..................Total ...... Avg./Game 1990............. 6 ............. 332,840 ............. 55,473 1991............. 6 ............. 327,250 ............. 54,542 1992............. 6 ............. 324,875 ............. 54,146 1993............. 6 ............. 318,178 ............. 53,030 1994............. 7 ............. 352,012 ............. 50,287 1995............. 6 ............. 299,772 ............. 49,446 1996............. 6 ............. 243,884 ............. 40,647 1997............. 6 ............. 354,662 ............. 59,110 1998............. 6 ............. 346,422 ............. 57,737 1999............. 6 ............. 406,536 ............. 67,756 2000............. 6 ............. 392,772 ............. 65,462 2001............. 6 ............. 380,881 ............. 63,480 2002............. 7 ............. 449,084 ............. 64,155 2003............. 7 ............. 454,457 ............. 64,922 2004............. 6 ............. 374,002 ............. 62,334 2005............. 6 ............. 374,697 ............. 62,450 2006............. 7 ............. 401,307 ............. 57,330 Year .............. G ..................Total ...... Avg./Game 2007............. 8 ............. 550,588 ............. 68,824 2008............. 7 ............. 486,038 ............. 69,434 2009............. 7 ............. 487,156 ............. 69,594 2010............. 7 ............. 462,488 ............. 66,070 2011............. 7 ............. 420,052 ............. 60,007 2012............. 7 ............. 347,838 ............. 49,691 2013............. 7 ............. 416,303 ............. 59,472 2014............. 7 ............. 403,002 ............. 57,571 2015............. 8 ............. 490,361 ............. 61,295 2016............. 7 ............. 370,500 ............. 58,038 2017............. 7 ............. 395,276 ............. 56,468 2018............. 7 ............. 385,820 ............. 55,117 Total ........... 299 ...... 17,291,235 ............. 57,830 Since 1999 . 137 ........ 8,454,158 ............. 61,709 (Note: stadium was expanded in 1999)Wildcat Marching Band Entertaining thousands of fans with our spirited, high- energy performances, the Wildcat Marching Band enjoys a nation- al reputation as one of the finest collegiate marching bands in the country. The Wildcat Marching Band provides a pep band for ev- ery away game in the Southeastern Confer- ence and travels with the full band to one away game each year. In addition, the Wild- cat Marching Band has participated in nu- merous post-season bowl games, BOA Re- gional Championships, a Presidential Inau- guration, a World Series, and the 2008 Ryder Cup. The basketball pep band was recently a part of the 2011 NCAA Final Four and the 2012 NCAA Basketball tournament where UK won their 8th National Championship. Marching Band (MUC 190) is a one credit hour class that rehearses Mondays, Wednes- days and Fridays from 5:30-7:30PM. In addi- tion, the Wildcat Marching Band represents nearly every academic major on campus and is the largest student organization at the University of Kentucky while maintaining some of the highest GPA’s on campus. Sweetheart Majorettes As the first female members to join the University of Kentucky Wildcat Marching Band in 1960, the UK Feature Twirlers and Sweetheart Majorette Twirling line is rich in tradition, excellence, and is comprised of national champion twirlers from all over the United States. Taking pride in being one of the best twirling schools in the SEC, the UK Twirling program loves being a part of the Wildcat Marching Band and representing twirling in front of 70,000+ CATS fans at Common- wealth Stadium. The UK Feature Twirlers and Sweetheart Majorette line also perform at other UK Athletic events, around the Lex- ington community, and compete on the lo- cal, regional, and national level. The University of Kentucky Cheerleading Squad No other college cheerleading squad has dominated the Universal Cheerleaders Associ- ation National Championships like Kentucky. The UK squad has won UCA’s National Col- lege Cheerleading Championship an unprece- dented 24 times (1985, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019), more than any other Division IA school. UK’s squad is the only team to win back-to-back championships three times, once in 1987 and 1988, again in 1995 and 1996, and a third time in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Furthermore, UK is the only squad ever to win three, four, five, six, seven and eight championships in a row. UK’s eight year streak of championships was broken in 2003 when the Wildcats finished runner-up to Central Florida. They regained the title in January 2004 and won their third straight in 2006. Central Florida regained the championship in 2007 when UK finished in third place. But the next year, UK came home with its 16th title. The squad generates vocal support and significant enthusiasm for some of the finest athletic programs in the nation. The Wild- cat basketball team is the winningest col- lege basketball program in the nation and has won the NCAA national championship eight times. The squad receives substantial media exposure. Having finished in the top 10 every year since the existence of the UCA National College Championships, each year the UK squad is seen on the ESPN televised Championships Program, which airs at least eight times nationally. In ad- dition, the UK squad is seen on television as every UK basketball game is televised nationally. The squad is frequently the sub- ject of highlight stories by television, radio stations, and newspapers. The squad has been featured on the “CBS Evening News,” Connie Chung’s “Eye to Eye,” the “CBS Morning Show”, in “Southern Living” and “Gentlemen’s Quarterly,” “ESPN the Mag- azine,” and “Seventeen” magazine. The cheerleaders regularly attend Uni- versity Athletics Association and Alumni As- sociation functions. They also represent the University at many charitable and public relations’ events. On the UK campus, UK cheerleaders are recognized as some of the finest athletes in the university’s sports programs, as intel- ligent and outgoing students in the class- room, and as public relations ambassadors of the University of Kentucky and the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky. Wildcat Spirit 46 @UKFootballNext >