Wildcats Visit Aggies, Looking for Best Start in 68 Years
Ranked and undefeated, No. 13/15 Kentucky travels to Texas A&M this week with a chance to begin the season 6-0, the first time that could happen for the program since the 1950 team won its first 10 games. A win also would give the Wildcats a 4-0 start in Southeastern Conference play and make them bowl eligible. Kickoff is 7 p.m. ET and the game will air on ESPN.
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| Kentucky vs. Texas A&M | ||
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| Sat., Oct. 6 – 7 p.m. ET Kyle Field College Station, Texas Game Notes: UK  | TAMU Digital Gameday Program Texas A&M Gameday Information Gameday App |
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| Coverage | ||
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TV: ESPN |
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| UK | Team Stats | TAMU |
| 5-0 | Record | 3-2 |
| 3-0 | Conference Record | 1-1 |
| 32.4 | Scoring/game | 36.0 |
| 407.2 | Total offense/game | 511.8 |
| 254.2 | Rushing yards/game | 232.2 |
| 153.0 | Passing yards/game | 279.6 |
| 18.5 | Kickoff returns (avg) | 27.3 |
| 8.3 | Punt returns (avg) | 4.0 |
| 45.7 | Punting (avg) | 45.0 |
| 32:11 | Time of possession/game | 35:52 |
| 47.5% | Third down conversion | 45.0% |
| 83.3% | Fourth down conversion | 100.0% |
| 12.6 | Points allowed/game | 21.4 |
| 287.8 | Total yards allowed/game | 357.2 |
| 110.4 | Rush yards allowed/game | 85.0 |
| 177.4 | Pass yards allowed/game | 272.2 |
Junior running back Benny Snell Jr. has continued his assault on the record books this season, piling up 639 yards with eight scores. He owns the school record with 40 career touchdowns and has moved into third place on the school’s career rushing list while ranking second with 15 career 100-yard games. Snell has reached 100 yards in three of the Cats’ five games this season and came just one yard shy of the century mark in another game.
The UK defense, led by senior pass rusher extraordinaire Josh Allen (6.0 sacks, 10.5 TFL), ranks among the nation’s best units and has allowed just 11 points per game in league play.
Cat Scratches: Cats Have Healthy Respect for Challenge Posed by A&M
Conference opponents are the ones you’re supposed to know best.
Mark Stoops has certainly reached that point with most of the Southeastern Conference, but Texas A&M is very much an exception.
“You always get some crossovers once in a while but A&M definitely for me is new and fresh, definitely not very familiar with them,” Stoops said. “It’s no different than playing a non-conference opponent.”
In fact, Kentucky has played most nonconference opponents more than the Aggies.
When No. 13 UK travels to College Station, Texas, to put its perfect record on the line against Texas A&M (3-2) at 7 p.m. on Saturday, it will be the first time in more than 60 years the two teams have met. UK last faced A&M in the early 1950s, when UK won in College Station 10-7 in 1952 and lost in Lexington 7-6 a year later. Clearly, the matchup will be the first between the two teams since A&M’s move to the SEC in 2012.
None of that means UK’s approach will be any different though.
“We treat every opponent the same,” running back Benny Snell Jr. said. “Different opponent, different skill. We’ve been attacking in practice and we’re going to stay focused going forward. We’re not switching anything.”
That’s wise, because UK is within one win of the first 6-0 start in school history since 1950, even longer ago than the last time the Cats played the Aggies…Read More
Kentucky One of 14 Schools Still Undefeated
• Kentucky is one of the 14 remaining undefeated teams in college football, including just one of four SEC schools.
• The others are Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Clemson, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Central Florida, South Florida, Notre Dame, North Carolina State, Cincinnati, and Colorado.
• UK’s 5-0 start is the best since the 2007 team started at 5-0. It marks just the fifth time in school history the Cats have opened the season 5-0 since World War II (also 1949, 1950, 1984).
• UK is 3-0 in SEC play for the first time since the 1977 team went undefeated in league play and the fourth time in school history (also 1949 and 1950).
Cats Ranked in National Polls; First Time Since 2007
• Kentucky entered the national polls last week for the first time since the 2007 season.
• The Cats have now climbed to No. 13 in the Associated Press poll and No. 15 in the coaches’ poll.
• It’s the highest the Wildcats have been ranked in the AP poll since No. 8 on Oct. 14, 2007. It’s the highest in the coaches’ poll since No. 15 on Oct. 21, 2007.
Scouting Texas A&M
• Texas A&M is 3-2 on the season and 1-1 in league play.
• The Aggies are coming off a 24-17 win over rival Arkansas in a game that was played on a neutral field in Arlington, Texas at the home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
• A&M is scoring 36.0 points per game and ranks third in the SEC in rushing at 232.2 yards per game.
• The Aggie defense will be a stiff test for the Cats given its proficiency against the run. A&M is the best run defense in the conference and allowing just 80.6 yards per game on the ground.
• Quarterback Kellen Mond is third in the SEC in total offense (287.2 yards per game).
• Running back Trayveon Williams ranks second in the league, behind Benny Snell Jr., in rushing yards per game (116.2 yards per game).
Series vs. Texas A&M
• This will be just the third all-time meeting between Kentucky and Texas A&M and the first in 65 years.
• Each team has won one of the previous two meetings, with Kentucky claiming a 10-7 victory in College Station in 1952 and the Aggies triumphing 7-6 in Lexington in 1953.
• In 1952 when UK visited Kyle Field the stadium had a single deck and fewer than 40,000 seats. It now seats 102,733, making it the fourth-largest in the country and biggest outside the Big Ten.
• UK went 7-2-1 during that 1953 season, which was Paul “Bear” Bryant’s last in Lexington. Ironically, Bryant left for Texas A&M after the 1953 season.
Kentucky-Texas A&M Connections
• UK coach Mark Stoops and Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher are extremely familiar with each other, as Stoops was Fisher’s defensive coordinator at Florida State from 2010-2012 before being hired at Kentucky.
• The two went to three bowls together and had a 12-2 season in 2012 (Stoops did not coach the Orange Bowl that season).
• UK assistant head coach for offense and running backs coach Eddie Gran also was a member of that staff from 2010-12. He was Fisher’s associate head coach, offensive coordinator and running backs coach.
• Texas A&M wide receivers coach Dameyune Craig played for Gran during his career at Auburn.
• Aggies’ linebackers coach Bradley Dale Peveto was on the UK staff in 2013 as the safeties coach and special teams coordinator.
• UK defensive line coach Derrick LeBlanc was a graduate assistant coach at LSU in 2000, Fisher’s first season as offensive coordinator in Baton Rouge.
A UK Win Would…
• Move UK to 6-0 for the first time since 1950, when UK opened the season with 10 straight wins.
• Give the Cats their first 4-0 start in SEC play since the 1977 team went undefeated in league play.
• Improve UK to 15-5 over the last 20 regular-season games, the best 20-game regular-season stretch since Nov. 6, 1976 to Oct. 21, 1978 (15-4-1).
• Improve UK to 11-6 in its last 17 SEC games, the best 17-game SEC stretch since going 11-6 from Oct. 8, 1977 to Nov. 17, 1979.
• Make the Cats bowl eligible for the third consecutive season.
• Give the Cats a 2-0 start on the road for the second consecutive season.
• Give UK a 2-1 lead in the series vs. Texas A&M, including a 2-0 lead in games played in College Station. The Cats’ lone win was in 1952.
Don Franklin Auto Countdown to Kickoff Show
All-Southeastern Conference defensive end Jeremy Jarmon and former quarterback Dusty Bonner will be alongside host Christi Thomas for the Don Franklin Auto Countdown To Kickoff, the two-hour pregame show that airs prior to each UK football game in 2018.
A live video broadcast of Countdown to Kickoff will air on UKAthletics.com, the UK Athletics mobile app and the Kentucky Football Facebook page.
For home games, Countdown to Kickoff will broadcast live in front of Nutter Field House outside Gate 1 of Kroger Field with special guests and giveaways. The set of the show is conveniently located near the Coke Fan Zone in Nutter Field House and the Cat Walk presented by Chevy.
When the Wildcats are on the road, the show will broadcast from Kroger at the Tates Creek Centre in Lexington.
