Electric Crowd Lifts Cats to New Heights
Mark Stoops doesn’t say things by accident.
In other words, it was quite intentional that, anytime he has spoken of building the Kentucky football program, Stoops has included the Big Blue Nation.
On Saturday night, he was proven right.
“That is what I’m talking about when I say it takes all of us,” Stoops said. “They made a difference, the fans made a difference, the students made a difference.”
A crowd of more than 60,000 was fully engaged for all 60 minutes of a memorable upset win over No. 14 Mississippi State. They weren’t just bystanders enjoying one of the more complete performances in recent memory for the Wildcats either. In fact, they had an exceptionally active role in a dominant 28-7 victory for their Cats.
“The atmosphere was amazing,” said Benny Snell Jr., who rushed for 165 yards and four touchdowns. “This is what football is all about, college football right there. I’m living my dream right now and I couldn’t be happier in this support and the crowd was amazing. It was the best feeling ever, for real.”
Snell is hardly alone in feeling that way.
“It was awesome,” junior linebacker Kash Daniel said. “It was unbelievable. The crowd was electric and I think that’s what—if it wasn’t for them being loud and everything like that, I think they wouldn’t have jumped or had miscommunication with them. I want to say thank you to all the fans, thank you to everyone that came out and supported us.”
Daniel enjoyed as much support as any Wildcat, as a large contingent of fans from his hometown and the surrounding area in Eastern Kentucky took advantage of a cash-only flash sale on Thursday offering $10 tickets in Paintsville.
“That’s unbelievable, and it shows you how much that area cares about UK Athletics and how much they care about their own,” Daniel said. “I can’t thank them enough for everything.”
Those fans certainly had something to do with the seven pre-snap penalties the Bulldogs committed – six false starts and one delay of game.
“That’s what we do,” Stoops said. “That’s what we play in the SEC, that’s the environment we’re supposed to play in. And it makes a difference. Because when they’re loud and the offensive line can’t hear the snap count like that, it’s very hard to block Josh (Allen). And that’s where it makes a difference.”
It would be hard enough to block Allen in an empty stadium, let alone one as raucous as Kroger Field on this Saturday night. The senior linebacker lived in Mississippi State’s backfield, registering pressure after pressure on star Bulldog quarterback Nick Fitzgerald before finally getting his first sack early in the fourth quarter as UK turned a close game into a blowout.
Allen was instrumental in holding the Bulldogs to 201 total yards, finishing with six tackles, including two for loss.
“He is a dominant football player,” Stoops said. “… I was making sure we were being able to rush him as much we could because it seemed like he was unstoppable. But he did a really good job in coverage and he was so big and long he was disruptive in the pass game as well. He’s a dynamic player and he was very hard to block tonight. He’s a great football player.”
A great football player made better by a great crowd.
“It was just awesome,” Allen said. “It was unbelievable we had a crowd like that come out for a big game. They did their part.”
When UK – 4-0 on the season and 2-0 to start SEC play for the first time since 1977 – next takes the field, the Cats will do so against South Carolina next Saturday at Kroger Field. They will be looking for more of the same from their fans.
“We need them to be out there next week,” Allen said. “Even more people even louder. Get loud because it’s going to be another big game and another game we need to win to get to where we need to get to.”
