This is a special weekend for the 1976 Kentucky football team, which is having a reunion to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their championship season.
The response has been tremendous, as approximately 62 former coaches and players from the ?76 squad had committed to take part the event. The Wildcats will have a dinner on Friday night and will be at the Vanderbilt game on Saturday. The Cats will be introduced at halftime and receive official team letterman?s jackets.
The ?76 campaign was a fascinating season. Not much was expected of Kentucky that year, coming off a 2-8-1 mark in 1975, the graduation of all-time leading rusher Sonny Collins, and facing a schedule that would eventually include seven top-20 opponents ? a school record that still stands for most ranked foes played in a season.
Coach Fran Curci, however, had a sense that this team would be able to overcome the obstacles.
?We made a couple of moves in spring practice,? Curci said. ?We put Derrick Ramsey in at quarterback (Ramsey had split time at QB and tight end the previous season). Derrick was the best athlete on the team and we felt he should touch the ball on every play.
?We also went to a ?full-house? backfield and committed to becoming a running team. It also helped us become a very physical defensive team because we ran the ball in practice. We wanted to control the ball.?
With Ramsey, a 6-5, 220-pound battering ram leading the way, UK?s attack saw four players ? Ramsey, Rod Stewart, Chris Hill, and Greg Woods ? each gain more than 500 rushing yards during the season. As a team, the Cats rushed for almost 3,000 yards.
The offensive line was anchored by senior All-American Warren Bryant. The defense was led by linebacker Jim Kovach, who was on his way to becoming the school?s all-time leading tackler, and dominant defensive end Art Still, who was a year away from All-America honors.
The Wildcats opened with home victories over unheralded Oregon State and West Virginia, sandwiched around a resounding defeat at No. 13 Kansas.
Then came the turning point, a 22-6 home win over No. 20-ranked Penn State, a game that let the Wildcats know they were for real.
?It was a turning point because Penn State was a prominent team and a prominent program,? Curci recalled. ?We ran for 399 yards that day, which I believe was a record for the most rushing yards Penn State had ever given up.
?It was a big game from a confidence standpoint, because it gave our kids confidence that they could control the tempo of the game.?
Additional victories followed over LSU, Vanderbilt, and Florida, and the regular season was concluded with a 7-0 triumph over Tennessee in Knoxville.
The win over the Volunteers earned the Wildcats a trip to Atlanta for the Peach Bowl against North Carolina ? Kentucky?s first bowl game in exactly a quarter-century. Deprived of a bowl game for 25 years, an estimated 37,000 Wildcat fans swarmed Atlanta, sparking the first sellout crowd in Peach Bowl history.
As for the game itself, the Wildcats returned to the bowl scene in fine fashion. The Kentucky defense completely smothered the Tar Heels, limiting them to a mere 108 yards of total offense, five first downs, and causing five turnovers. Meanwhile, Rod Stewart ? the bowl?s most valuable player ? rushed for 104 yards and all three touchdowns as Kentucky put a 21-0 win on the board. Linebacker Mike Martin was the game?s defensive MVP.
?North Carolina was a pretty solid team but we just plain shut them down,? Curci said. ?They had no chance.?
The Wildcats thought their season was over with an 8-4 record, including a 4-2 mark in the Southeastern Conference. But a twist of fate intervened a couple of years later, as Mississippi State was forced to forfeit victories from that season. Among them was a win over Kentucky which improved the Wildcats to 9-3 overall and a tie for the SEC championship with a 5-1 league mark.
?I?m very excited to get together with the players,? Curci said, ?but we?ve stayed close over the years. We?ve gotten together before when I?ve come to town. I?ll call a couple of the guys, and before you know it, 25-30 of us are going out to dinner. It?s a special bunch of guys.?
As of Tuesday of this week, players, coaches, and administrators who had committed to attend include: Fred Bishop, Jerry Blanton, Lester Boyd, Mike Boyle, Randy Burke, Joe Bryant, Warren Bryant, Ronald Cason, David Clark, Fran Curci, Mike Deaton, Joe Dipre, Thom Dornbrook, Dave Fadrowski, Timothy Fausel, Rick Fromm, Pete Gemmill, Will Grant, Rick Hayden, Jeffery Hess, Chris Hill, David Hopewell, Charles Jones, Tom Kalinowski, Ken Karish, Tom Kearns, Mark Keene, Kelly Kirchbaum, Dan Leal, James Lokesak, Robert Long, Mike Martin, Terry McPherson, Mark Meenach, Ed Middendorf, John Nochta, Ken Northington, Tim O?Toole, Dallas Owens, Larry Petkovsek, John Pierce, Derrick Ramsey, Mark Renfroe, Russell Rice, Kenny Roark, Chuck Servino, Leon Shadowen, Mike Shutt, Mike Siganos, Rollie Skur, Steven Slates, Ed Smolder, Rod Stewart, Art Still, Ron Thomas, David Trosper, Doug Vescio, Jay Welch, David Wells, Kyle Whalen, Bill Williams, and Felix Wilson.
