September 10, 1998
LEXINGTON, Kty. — Additional research following Saturday’s game at Louisville has discovered another SEC record for Tim Couch along with one team SEC record and two more University of Kentucky team records. Against Louisville, Couch completed 29 of 39 passes for 498 yards and seven touchdowns, along with three rushing attempts for a net of zero yards. In addition to tying his own SEC records for touchdown passes in a game (seven) and touchdown responsibility in a game (seven), Couch broke the SEC record for yards per play in a game, minimum 40 plays. Couch averaged 11.9 yards per rushing and passing play Saturday, with 498 yards on 42 plays. The previous SEC record was 10.8 yards per play by Eric Zeier of Georgia (49 plays for 527 yards) vs. Southern Mississippi in 1993.
One more SEC team record and two more UK team records have been identified. Kentucky broke the SEC record for passing yardage in a game with 571, breaking the mark of 545 yards by Tennessee against Kentucky in 1997. Kentucky also broke the school record for passing first downs with 24 (old record 22 last season vs. Northeast Louisiana). The school record for most points by both teams was broken with 102. The previous mark was 91 in last season’s Kentucky-LSU game.
All totaled, here are the single-game records broken by UK and Tim Couch vs. Louisville:
SEC Records
Passing Yardage, Team: 571 (old record 545 by Tennessee vs. Kentucky, 1997)
Touchdown Passes, Team: 8 (tied record set by Kentucky vs. North Dakota in 1950 and Florida vs. New Mexico State in 1994)
Touchdown Passes, Individual: 7 by Tim Couch (ties record by Couch vs. Indiana in 1997 and Florida’s Terry Dean vs. New Mexico State in 1994)
Touchdown Responsibility, Rushing and Passing: 7 by Tim Couch (ties record by Couch vs. Indiana and Northeast Louisiana in 1997 and three other players)
Total Offense Yards Per Play (min. 40 plays): 11.9 by Tim Couch, 498 yards on 42 plays (old record 10.8 yards per play by Eric Zeier, Georgia vs. Southern Mississippi in 1993, 527 yards on 49 plays)
School Records
Total Offense, Team: 801 yards (old record 646 vs. Tennessee Tech, 1951)
Passing Yardage, Team: 571 yards (old record 476 yards last season vs. Tennessee)
Touchdown Passes, Team: 8 (tied record set vs. North Dakota in 1950)
First Downs: 37 (old record 31 in seven previous games) First Downs Passing: 24 (old record 22 last season vs. Northeast Louisiana)
Most Points by Both Teams: 102 (old record 91 vs. LSU last season) Total
Offense, Individual: 498 yards by Tim Couch (old record 475 yards by Couch last season vs. Tennessee) Passing Yardage, Individual: 498 yards by Tim Couch (old record 476 yards by Couch last season vs. Tennessee)
Touchdown Passes, Individual: 7 by Tim Couch (tying his own record set last season vs. Indiana)
300-Yard Passing Games: Couch extended his own record to 10 games 400-Yard Passing Games: Couch extended his own record to four games
CNN/SI “Play of the Day” to Jimmy Haley and Tim Couch: The CNN/SI “Play of the Day” for Saturday, Sept. 5, was tight end Jimmy Haley’s marvelous touchdown pass reception against Louisville. With UK on the Louisville 21-yard line in the second quarter, Tim Couch threw an arching pass to Haley near the goal line. Moving to his left, Haley leaped over a defender and reached back with his right hand for an amazing one-handed catch. Haley managed to land on his feet and back into the end zone for a touchdown.
