2020 Kentucky Wildcats football team

The 2020 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky, and competed in the East Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They were led by eighth-year head coach Mark Stoops.

2020 Kentucky Wildcats football
Gator Bowl champion
Gator Bowl, W 23–21 vs. NC State
Conference	Southeastern Conference
	Eastern Division
2020 record	5–6 (4–6 SEC)
Head coach	Mark Stoops (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Eddie Gran (5th season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Darin Hinshaw (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Brad White (2nd season)
Home stadium	Kroger Field (Capacity: 61,000)

2020 Southeastern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 13 Florida x		8	–	2					8	–	4
No. 7 Georgia		7	–	2					8	–	2
Missouri		5	–	5					5	–	5
Kentucky		4	–	6					5	–	6
Tennessee		3	–	7					3	–	7
South Carolina		2	–	8					2	–	8
Vanderbilt		0	–	9					0	–	9
West Division
No. 1 Alabama x$#		10	–	0					13	–	0
No. 4 Texas A&M		8	–	1					9	–	1
Auburn		6	–	4					6	–	5
LSU*		5	–	5					5	–	5
Ole Miss		4	–	5					5	–	5
Mississippi State		3	–	7					4	–	7
Arkansas		3	–	7					3	–	7
Championship: Alabama 52, Florida 46
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * – ineligible for postseason due to self imposed ban Note: Due to COVID-19, the SEC will play a conference-only schedule. Rankings from AP Poll.

Preseason

SEC Media Days

In the preseason media poll, Kentucky was predicted to finish in fourth place in the East Division.[1]

Media poll (East Division)
Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Florida	624 (53)
2	Georgia	613 (43)
3	Tennessee	434
4	Kentucky	405
5	South Carolina	287
6	Missouri	224
7	Vanderbilt	101

Schedule

Kentucky had games scheduled against Eastern Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Kent State, and Louisville, which were all canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2][3] This will be the first season since 1993 that the Wildcats do not play Louisville. As of 10/16/2020, the SEC swapped two teams and the dates of when they will play the Wildcats. This is because of an outbreak of COVID-19 among other competing SEC football teams. Missouri will be an away game on October 24, instead of an away game on the 31st and Georgia, at home, on October 31 instead of the 24th.

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 26, 2020	Noon	at No. 8 Auburn	No. 23	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	SECN	L 13–29	17,490
October 3	4:00 p.m.	Ole Miss		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	L 41–42 ^OT	12,000
October 10	7:30 p.m.	Mississippi State		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	W 24–2	12,000
October 17	Noon	at No. 18 Tennessee		Neyland Stadium Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	SECN	W 34–7	22,519
October 24	4:00 p.m.	at Missouri		Faurot Field Columbia, MO	SECN	L 10–20	11,738
October 31	Noon	No. 5 Georgia		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	L 3–14	12,000
November 14	Noon	Vanderbilt		Kroger Field Lexington, KY (rivalry)	SECN	W 38–35	12,000
November 21	4:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Alabama		Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	SECN	L 3–63	19,424
November 28	Noon	at No. 6 Florida		Ben Hill Griffin Stadium Gainesville, FL	ESPN	L 10–34	14,453
December 5	7:30 p.m.	South Carolina		Kroger Field Lexington, KY	SECN	W 41–18	12,000
January 2, 2021	Noon	vs. No. 23 NC State*		TIAA Bank Field Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	ESPN	W 23–21	10,422
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Central time

[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV*	23	23	RV
Coaches	RV	RV*	20	RV	RV
CFP	Not released															Not released

Game summaries

at Auburn

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–27	2015	Auburn, 30-27

Kentucky vs. Auburn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	6	0	13
Tigers	8	0	7	14	29

at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL

• Date: September 26, 2020
• Game time: Noon EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 86 • Wind: N 4 mph • Weather: Mostly Sunny; 48%hum
• Game attendance: 17,490
• Referee: Hubert Owens
• TV: SECN
• [5]

Ole Miss

Ole Miss vs. Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels	7	7	7	21	42
Wildcats	14	7	7	13	41

at Kroger Field, Lexington, KY

• Date: October 3, 2020
• Game time: 4:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 70 • Wind: 9 MPH E • Weather: Mostly sunny
• Game attendance: 12,000
• Referee: John McDaid
• TV: SECN
• [6]

Mississippi State

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
24-24	2019	Mississippi State, 28-13

Kentucky vs. Mississippi State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	2	0	2
Wildcats	0	14	0	10	24

at Kroger Field, Lexington, KY

• Date: October 10, 2020
• Game time: 7:30pm EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
• Game attendance: 12,000
• Referee: Marc Curles
• TV: SECN
• [7]

Tennessee

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
26-81	2019	Tennessee, 17-13

Kentucky vs. Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	17	10	7	34
Volunteers	0	7	0	0	7

at Neyland Stadium, Knoxville, TN

• Date: October 17, 2020
• Game time: 12:00pm EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
• Game attendance: 22,519
• Referee: Marc Curles
• TV: SECN
• [7]

Missouri

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7-4	2019	Kentucky, 29-7

Kentucky vs. Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	3	0	7	10
Tigers	7	3	7	3	20

at Faurot Field, Columbia, MO

• Date: October 24, 2020
• Game time: 4:00pm EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
• Game attendance: 22,519
• Referee: Marc Curles
• TV: SECN
• [7]

Georgia

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
12-60	2019	Georgia, 21-0

Kentucky vs. Georgia

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	0	7	0	14
Wildcats	0	3	0	0	3

at Kroger Field, Lexington, KY

• Date: October 31, 2020
• Game time: 12:00pm EST
• Game weather: Temperature: 85 • Wind: NNE 4mph • Weather: Partly Cloudy
• Game attendance: 12,000
• Referee: Marc Curles
• TV: SECN
• [7]

References

1. "Preseason SEC media poll, All-SEC Team announced". SECSports.com. Southeastern Conference. September 23, 2020.
2. Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
3. Dellenger, Ross. "Sources: SEC Adopts Conference-Only Schedule With Sept. 26 Start". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
4. "2020 Kentucky Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 17, 2020.
5. "KENTUCKY (1-0) -VS- SOUTHERN MISS (0-1)". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
6. "EASTERN KENTUCKY (0-2) -VS- KENTUCKY (2-0)". Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
7. "KENTUCKY (3-0 , 1-0) -VS- SOUTH CAROLINA (2-1 , 1-1)". Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 November 2017.