TaxSlayer Bowl Bid a Big Step in UK’s Growth

His team mired in an 0-2 start and negativity swirling outside Kentucky’s locker room, Mark Stoops kept a steady hand.

He made no promises of results in the wake of losses to Southern Miss and Florida, only of effort and improvement.

“That I guarantee: That this team will play hard and fundamental football,” Stoops said on Sept. 12. “I believe in these players and I hope the fans do as well. It is a long season and we will get better in certain cases, there is no doubt about that.”

The Wildcats followed through on the guarantee, rallying become a tough team that took on Stoops’ mentality and never flinched in the face of adversity. They let the results take of themselves, and take care of themselves they did.

Riding the momentum of seven wins in its final 10 games – punctuated by an upset of rival Louisville – UK is headed to the TaxSlayer Bowl to face Georgia Tech.

“We’re extremely excited and proud for our team, our university and our fans, to be invited to the TaxSlayer Bowl,” Stoops said. “It’s a bowl with a rich tradition and we’re honored to become part of it. We’re also excited about the opportunity to play Georgia Tech, an outstanding team that will be a great challenge.”

A bowl game with the history and tradition of the TaxSlayer Bowl – formerly known as the Gator Bowl – seemed a long way off less than two months ago, but now it’s a reality. And the reward the Cats will reap for all their hard work is a trip to Jacksonville, Florida to play at 11 a.m. on New Year’s Eve in front of a national ESPN audience.

The fans who stuck with their team will reap the same reward. Their passion and history of following UK to bowl destinations was a factor in UK receiving a bid a bowl that’s the sixth oldest among games currently being played. The Big Blue Mist is expected to descend on Jacksonville, and fans can order their tickets at UKFootballTix.com.

Those fans will be supporting a team that has established an identity this season, one that starts on offense with a potent ground game. UK boasts a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Boom Williams and Benny Snell, Jr. for the first time in school history, to go along with a quarterback in Stephen Johnson II who has overcome injury to win the hearts of UK fans with resilience and a heavy dose of perfectly thrown deep balls.

The Cats are a team that, in some ways, is winning ahead of its time. UK has the fewest seniors of any team in America and fields a defense still heavily reliant on young talent. That young talent has grown to flourish, particularly sophomore standouts Jordan Jones, Denzil Ware, Josh Allen, Mike Edwards, Derrick Baity and Chris Westry. Reaching a bowl affords the opportunity for those youngsters to improve through pre-bowl practices, which UK has crucially missed out on since last making a bowl in 2010.

Improvement will be the focus in the coming weeks, because playing in a bowl game of this stature affords a chance for UK to take big steps in its development under Stoops. The game might mark the end of the 2016, but it’s only the start for Kentucky football.

Going back to the home state! ????Taxslayer bowl thanks for the invite #bbn

— Jeff Badet (@uk_jb4) December 4, 2016

Jacksonville ??

— Stephen Johnson II (@stephen_h_j) December 4, 2016