BTI's Rants and Ramblings: Which of These Stoops Era Records is Most at Risk?

The Mark Stoops era rolls into Year Nine in just a few weeks, and when you really consider his first eight seasons, it is actually a very unique and eclectic series of teams.  You had a miserable opening season in 2013.  Some of his early teams actually threw the ball quite well, with Patrick Towles leading the way and then Drew Barker following.  The wins were tougher to come by but the offense steadily improved.  But when Barker went down with injury, Stephen Johnson took over, and with the emergence of Boom Williams and Benny Snell, the offense completely flipped to a run heavy approach and have produced some of the best rushing teams in school history.  The defense has evolved as well.  UK finally has a defense that has been formidable for several years, putting many guys into the NFL.

Coming into 2021, there are some real questions about what kind of team we’ll see this year, especially on the offensive side of the ball.  A new offensive coordinator and potential new quarterback leads to a lot of questions about what their identity will be.  The defensive side lost some serious talent too so what will that unit bring to the table is up in the air as well?  But knowing what you think you know about this year’s roster, are any of these Stoops era records at risk?

Below is each season high under Mark Stoops (2013 and beyond) as well as the guy who contributed the most to that record.  Remember, others also helped in the rushing and defensive categories but just refreshing everyone on which season we are talking about:

Pass Completions
2014: 228 (Patrick Towles)

Pass Attempts
2014: 404 (Patrick Towles)

Passing Yards
2014: 2,774 (Patrick Towles)

Passing TDs
2016: 17 (Stephen Johnson/Drew Barker)

Rushing Yards
2019: 3,624 (Lynn Bowden and Co.)

Rushing TDs
2019: 39 (Lynn Bowden and Co.)

Sacks
2018: 38 (Josh Allen)

INTs
2020: 16