Wildcats Seek to Send Seniors Off with Bowl Eligibility
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Calipari to Sign Copies of His New Book Prior to UK Football Game
Fourteen players will be honored during a special “Senior Day” pregame ceremony at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday as Kentucky plays host to FCS opponent Austin Peay. The Wildcats are looking for their sixth victory and bowl eligibility for the first time since 2010.
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| Kentucky vs. Austin Peay | ||
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| Sat., Nov. 19 – 4:30 p.m. ET Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, Ky. Game Notes: UK  | APSU Digital Gameday Program Gameday App |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: SEC Network |
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| UK | 2016 Team Stats | APSU |
| 5-5 | Record | 0-10 |
| 4-4 | Conference Record | 0-8 |
| 28.2 | Scoring/game | 24.6 |
| 414.8 | Total offense/game | 375.8 |
| 238.5 | Rushing yards/game | 175.7 |
| 176.3 | Passing yards/game | 200.1 |
| 23.1 | Kickoff returns (avg) | 20.5 |
| 9.8 | Punt returns (avg) | 4.9 |
| 39.5 | Punting (avg) | 37.9 |
| 30:34 | Time of possession/game | 30:32 |
| 36.6% | Third down conversion | 35.7% |
| 77.8% | Fourth down conversion | 46.8% |
| 32.3 | Points allowed/game | 46.8 |
| 442.9 | Total yards allowed/game | 516.3 |
| 216.3 | Rush yards allowed/game | 255.5 |
| 226.6 | Pass yards allowed/game | 260.8 |
The seniors are: fullback Will Collins, tight end/fullback Tanner Fink, cornerback J.D. Harmon, running back Jojo Kemp, defensive back Blake McClain, safety Marcus McWilson, defensive end Courtney Miggins, center Zach Myers, wide receiver Ryan Timmons, center Jon Toth, and defensive tackle Zane Williams. Juniors Dylan Greenberg, Alex Montgomery and Ramsey Meyers will also be honored as they have decided to forgo their senior seasons.
Offensively, the Wildcats continue to run the football effectively and now rank 17th nationally in rushing yards per game with 238.5 per contest. UK is averaging 274.4 rushing yards over its past eight games, during which it is 5-3.
Cat Scratches: Winding Road Rewarding for UK Seniors
It was four years ago that a group of young men signed with Kentucky to become part of Mark Stoops’ first recruiting class. Since then, they’ve taken divergent paths.
Some redshirted, a year as Wildcats still ahead of them. Some were junior-college transfers who have already completed their eligibility. Some moved on to continue their careers elsewhere.
Six, however, will participate in Senior Day on Saturday. And what Jojo Kemp, Blake McClain, Marcus McWilson, Ryan Timmons, Ramsey Meyers and Alex Montgomery lack in numbers, they make up for with single-minded dedication to the goal they set when they originally signed.
“That was the reason why I came to Kentucky: to come here and have the opportunity to change the culture and change the program around,” Kemp said.
There was a time not long ago it seemed their work would go for naught. Sitting at 0-2 with negativity swirling to start the 2016 season, times were dark. Those six seniors, as well as the eight others who have joined their class through redshirt and transfer, never wavered…Read More
Cats vs. The Governors
• This is the first meeting between the two schools.
• Kentucky has defeated an FCS opponent in each of the past 11 seasons.
• UK is 8-0 all-time vs. teams from the Ohio Valley Conference.
Scouting Austin Peay
• Austin Peay is 0-10 on the season and 0-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
• Austin Peay first-year coach Will Healy, 30, is the second-youngest coach in Division I football. Only Maine’s Joe Harsymiak (29) is younger. Healy was a captain on Richmond’s 2008 FCS national championship team.
• Wide receiver Jared Beard is one of the best at the FCS level, having hauled in 69 passes for 920 yards and seven touchdowns this season.
• Linebacker Gunnar Scholato has 120 total tackles and ranks third in FCS at 11.9 per game.
Kentucky-Austin Peay Connections
• Kentucky has just two players from the Volunteer State, freshman walk-on running back Harold Turks and freshman long snapper Colton Piatt, who both hail from Nashville.
• Austin Peay has six players from the Commonwealth in DE Shaun Whittinghill (Louisville), K Reagan Hyde (Cadiz), LB Antonio Turner (Louisville), OL Chad Cessna (Hopkinsville), DE Byron Carver (Bowling Green) and DE Lloyd Tubman (Louisville).
Texas Roadhouse Countdown to Kickoff
Tune in to the UK Sports Network for the “Texas Roadhouse Countdown to Kickoff” two hours before every football game. From Cat Walk to Cat Talk, host Christi Thomas and former UK Quarterback Freddie Maggard will focus on the X’s and O’s of the game and bring a little fun to pregame in the first 30 minutes of the show. Afterward, Host Neil Price is joined by Dick Gabriel, Tom Leach and Jeff Piecoro to continue the official pregame broadcast until kickoff. The show is broadcast in Lexington on 98.1 WBUL & 630 WLAP, UK Radio Network affiliates, online at ukathletics.com, and in the UK Gameday App. For the first time, the two-hour pregame show will be live streamed every home game for fans to watch on ukathletics.com.
