Kentucky football's unbelievable success in penalty-ridden games

Penalties lose games, right?… Right?

Yellow flags decorated the field in Kentucky’s 27-17 victory over then-No. 16 Mississippi State on Saturday night. The ‘Cats committed eight penalties for 60 yards in the first quarter alone. When the final horn sounded, Kentucky ended the game with 11 penalties for 84 yards.

The sloppy performance left fans wondering how much UK could have won by with more precise play. However, perhaps fans should be asking if the ‘Cats would have won at all.

After the contest, UK Sports Network football statistician Corey Price tweeted an unbelievable statistic.

Since the start of the 2016 season, @UKFootball is a perfect 9-0 in games in which they commit at least 10 penalties

— Corey Price (@coreyp08) October 16, 2022

“Since the start of the 2016 season, [Kentucky Football] is a perfect 9-0 in games in which they commit at least 10 penalties,” Price wrote.

At first, this ridiculous statement seemed like some sick joke. Nonetheless, after a bit of research, KSR can verify Price told the truth and even undersold how mindblowing the statistic is.

Not only did Kentucky defeat their opponents after committing so many mistakes, they blew them out. In these penalty-ridden nine games, Kentucky has an average win margin of 16.8 points. And in case you’re still on the fence, let me add one more thing.

These victories aren’t against a bunch of pushovers. The most prominent win of these nine games is perhaps the biggest triumph of Mark Stoops’ career: No. 12 Kentucky’s 27-16 win over No. 7 Florida in 2018.

That’s right. The game that made you storm State Street shirtless; the game that makes you still shoutout Kash Daniel anytime you chug anything; the game that ushered in a new era of Kentucky Football; that game was filled with catastrophe, and yet the ‘Cats found a way to win.

Marks Stoops put it best.

“Penalties aren’t always the indicator. When you’re an aggressive team, sometimes you’re going to get it,” Stoops said after Kentucky’s win over No. 16 Mississippi State.

Next time think twice before turning red in the face at a filthy, yellow flag on the field. It might just be a sign Kentucky is on the right track.