Kentucky recruits gush over Kroger Field atmosphere during win over Florida

It doesn’t happen as often as we’d probably like, but sometimes the hype does exceed whatever lofty expectations have been set beforehand. Kentucky’s upset win over Florida on Saturday is the finest example of that.

The first win over the Gators in Lexington in 35 years, Kentucky needed all 60 minutes of football to pull off the historical upset. From kickoff to the final whistle, every moment was thrilling. And if you’re someone who spent the whole day tailgating, it went on even longer.

It’s been talked about over and over again, but the atmosphere at Kroger Field on Saturday truly was unique. Over 61,000 fans crowded the stadium for the first time since 2019, the media room was shaking back and forth, and Florida suffered eight false starts as a result of the crowd noise. The field storming that followed was worth every cent of the $250,000 fine leveled against the university.

And a quarter-million dollar fine might not seem so expensive if it pays off in the form of commitments from four-star high school talents.

By all accounts, Kentucky beating Florida over the weekend was just as big for the future of recruiting as it is for the current progress of the program. The Wildcat coaching staff brought as many recruits as they could to Lexington to watch an all-time performance on the turf. A loss for UK could have looked bad in the eyes of the prospects, but a win would only help Kentucky’s chances.

Associate head coach Vince Marrow said it best during the KSR Postgame Show on Saturday: “You can do it at Kentucky now. Quit letting people fool you. This is where it’s going to be done at. Trust me.”

Reaction from recruits

Talking to a handful of the recruits who were in attendance for the win over Florida, I quickly came to a consensus: the environment blew them all away. There was never a dull moment throughout the night. For a lot of them, it was their first time ever storming a college football field. Even the traditional Cat Walk had recruits buzzing from the number of fans waiting to sneak a pregame look.

“The game itself was crazy,” Brycen Sanders, a four-star offensive lineman from the class of 2023, told KSR. “The fans were in it the whole game, they were cheering them loud. It seemed like Florida had a false start almost every play. Just running the ball down their throats. Coach (Eric) Wolford told me before the game that they were going to run the ball and see how Florida reacted. And obviously (Florida) didn’t adjust very well and kept running the ball and they were dominating upfront. After the game I got to rush the field. It was crazy, it was pretty fun.”

“Atmosphere was crazy,” Deone Walker, a four-star defensive lineman from the class of 2022, told KSR. “There really wasn’t a moment where I wasn’t out of my seat.”

“That was the most packed I’ve ever seen that stadium,” Kiyaunta Goodwin, a five-star offensive lineman from the class of 2022 and current UK commit, told On3‘s Zack Carpenter. “It was just loud and crazy. It’s always been a great atmosphere, but that really took it to the next level.”

“I score a lot, like my average right now is two touchdowns per game, and every time UK would score the fans were so crazy,” Kaden Moorman, a three-star running back from the class of 2023, told KSR. “They never stopped cheering.”

“Great atmosphere and the crowd was electric the whole time,” Jackson Smith, a five-star class of 2022 kicker/punter from the class of 2022 and current Kentucky commit, told KSR. “Never had a doubt in my mind UK wasn’t going to win!”

For Moorman and Smith, two natives of Kentucky who’ve been attending games ever since they were little, their words hold extra weight. They’ve experienced plenty of crowds at Kroger Field (and Commonwealth Stadium), but none like the outing on Saturday ever came close. Smith is already committed to UK and Moorman makes his decision this Friday (with Kentucky trending as the leader), so they got an up-close and personal experience of what the environment will be like suiting up for the ‘Cats in the future.

“I’ve been going to games since I can remember,” Smith added. “That was for sure the biggest win I’ve been able to be at in person.”

Saturday was the first time that Smith and Moorman have ever rushed a college field after a game. The same can be said for four-stars Sanders and Walker. It’s a moment that will be hard to forget as time goes by. For these high school juniors and seniors, it was something they desperately wanted to be a part of.

“We were right behind one of the endzones. I was like fourth row up and I didn’t think they were going to let people rush the field because I saw a bunch of security come out,” Sanders added. “Then all of the sudden I just saw students jumping down, they just let them go so I was like I wanna rush the field.”

“That was my first time,” Walker said about rushing the field. “But Coach (Anwar) Stewart, he was like, he don’t know how I got down the wall that fast. He said I was one of the first people he’d seen.”

Kentucky has another tough home game coming up this weekend against the LSU Tigers. 61,000-plus are once again expected to fill the top corners of Kroger Field. This type of atmosphere is becoming commonplace for high-profile matchups in Lexington.

Hopefully, the next time the likes of Sanders and Walker and the rest are rushing Kroger Field, the Big Blue Nation will be running towards them instead of with them.