How Kentucky has fared against FCS competition under Mark Stoops

FCS week has arrived for Kentucky football as Mark Stoops and his coaching staff get ready for an old-fashioned Youngstown reunion on Saturday. Before that happens, a football game must be played at high noon.

Youngstown State is the opponent this year, and the upstart Penguins have been an FCS surprise behind. strong rushing attack and an aggressive defense. The Missouri Valley Conference squad is now in the top 25 and will head to Lexington with a ton of confidence this season.

Under Stoops, Kentucky has been able to take care of business against FCS opponents owning an 8-0 overall record, but the Cats have not been a cover machine in these contests. Overall, UK is 3-5 against the spread (ATS) under Stoops against FCS foes.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane and re-visit each FCS game during the Stoops era.

Kentucky 48, Alabama State 14

After a very close Thursday night road loss to Mississippi State, Kentucky started November with a 1-6 overall record that included four losses to ranked teams. Things were not going well for the Cats, and the team desperately needed a win.

Kentucky unleashed some frustration in a night game on Nov. 2 as a 27-point favorite. Behind 233 rushing yards and a 34-7 in the second half, Kentucky cruised to a much-needed home victory an easy cover.

Kentucky 59, UT Martin 14

In the first game of 2014, there was optimism in the air at Commonwealth Stadium for a noon kickoff on Week 1. Kentucky hosted UT Martin to begin the season as a 21-point favorite and immediately issued a statement.

Kentucky took a 35-0 lead into the locker room at halftime as the Cats were dominant on both ends. Patrick Towles threw for 377 yards on 13 yards per attempt in his first start under offensive coordinator Neal Brown as some short-lived draft buzz started to surround the in-state prospect. Elsewhere, Kentucky rushed for 234 yards as this was an impressive performance to start the year.

Kentucky 34, Eastern Kentucky 27 (OT)

After a pair of dominant performances in his first two seasons, Kentucky got a huge scare in 2015 on a crummy weather night in October.

In the ultimate sandwich spot following a ranked win over Missouri and before Auburn rolled into town for a Thursday night contest, Dean Hood’s EKU squad nearly pulled an upset as a 34-point dog.

With just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Kentucky found itself down two touchdowns before Dorian Baker took over. Patrick Towles connected with the receiver on a fade with 0:52 left in regulation and then again in overtime to give the Cats 21 consecutive points in the last five minutes plus overtime to knock off EKU.

The Wildcats rushed for only 55 yards, and Mark Stoops admitted that his team was “fortunate” to win the contest.

Kentucky 49, Austin Peay 13

Facing one of the worst teams in the FCS on the Saturday before rivalry week, many were expecting the Cats to be on cruise control on a cold night in Lexington. An injury to quarterback Stephen Johnson certainly made things interesting.

Kentucky wanted to get through the game without playing Johnson, but walk-on quarterback Luke Wright was the only other player available. That was a bad recipe as the Cats fell in a 13-0 hole early after a pick-six despite being a 43-point favorite.

Johnson was put in the game in the second quarter and led Kentucky to a 49-0 blitz to end the night. The Cats rushed for 281 yards and averaged 11.2 yards per attempt through the air with Johnson as the contest was put in cruise control once QB1 took over.

The following week, Kentucky went on the road and knocked out Lamar Jackson and Louisville as a four-touchdown dog to give Stoops his first signature win at Kentucky.

Kentucky 27, Eastern Kentucky 16

Kentucky once again found itself as a huge favorite (-34) against EKU. The Colonels were able to give the in-state SEC school another big scare two years later.

Kentucky need a late second quarter touchdown to cut the lead to 13-10 before the half and did not take a lead until Benny Snell Jr.‘s 25-yard touchdown run with 2:57 left in the third quarter. The contest remained a one-possession game until Austin MacGinniss buried a 39-yard field goal with 0:23 left in the game.

Johnson played hero again with an impressive 21-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter while averaging 10.2 yards per attempt on 22 passes.

The win would set the table for next week as the Cats went on the road and upset a trendy South Carolina team in Williams-Brice Stadium.

Kentucky 48, Murray State 10

A week after ending the streak against Florida with a road win in The Swamp, Kentucky returned home for a hangover spot against Murray State in a noon kickoff.

Terry Wilson‘s 42-yard touchdown run got the party started in the first quarter, and Kentucky headed into halftime with a 17-3 lead. The Cats rolled up 283 passing yards on 9.1 yards per attempt and rushed for 245 yards keeping Murray State at arm’s length the entire afternoon.

Kentucky did not cover the large 41-point spread, but the result was never in doubt as UK owned a 34-3 lead heading into the fourth quarter. A Murray State touchdown with 0:30 left gave the Races a late backdoor cover.

Kentucky 50, UT Martin 7

The weather was awful in the penultimate game of the 2019 season, but the result was never in doubt.

A couple of bad snaps gave Kentucky a safety and a defensive touchdown for an early 9-0 lead. The Cats never looked back after A.J. Rose went 63 yards to put the Wildcats up 16-0 with 10:33 left in the first quarter.

Kentucky rushed for 462 yards on 10.3 yards per attempt as Lynn Bowden Jr. led the way with 129 yards on 11 attempts. The Cats were able to get the starters out early after owning a 29-0 lead at halftime as Kentucky got ready for the Governor’s Cup game against Louisville.

One week later, Scott Satterfield was complaining about L’s down.

Kentucky 28, Chattanooga 23

Last fall, the Chattanooga Mocs might as well have been the Eastern Kentucky Colonels.

After scoring a touchdown on their opening drive, Kentucky let its foot off the gas and found itself in a street fight with a Southern Conference team that had some real dudes on both sides of the line of scrimmage.

Chattanooga gave the Kentucky offense fits in the second half and took a 16-14 lead with 13:27 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Cats struck back immediately and were able to ice the win with a 95-yard pick-six from Tyrell Ajian with 7:40 left in the game.

Three turnovers for the home team allowed the 32-point underdog to hang around as a good the Kentucky offense was woeful on the ground with 102 yards on 3.8 yards per rush.