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1989 Kentucky

6–⁠5 (2–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Jerry Claiborne.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1989, game by game: won vs. Indiana 17–14; won vs. North Carolina 13–6; lost at No. 15 Alabama 3–15; lost vs. No. 11 Auburn 12–24; won vs. Rutgers 33–26; won vs. LSU 27–21; lost at Georgia 23–34; won vs. Cincinnati 31–0; won at Vanderbilt 15–11; lost at Florida 28–38; lost vs. No. 8 Tennessee 10–31+31−21Won 17–14 vs. Indiana+3IndianaWon 13–6 vs. North Carolina+7North CarolinaLost 3–15 at No. 15 Alabama-12No. 15 AlabamaLost 12–24 vs. No. 11 Auburn-12No. 11 AuburnWon 33–26 vs. Rutgers+7RutgersWon 27–21 vs. LSU+6LSULost 23–34 at Georgia-11GeorgiaWon 31–0 vs. Cincinnati+31CincinnatiWon 15–11 at Vanderbilt+4VanderbiltLost 28–38 at Florida-10FloridaLost 10–31 vs. No. 8 Tennessee-21No. 8 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsIndianaW 17–⁠1445%
Sep 16vsNorth CarolinaW 13–⁠670%
Sep 23at15AlabamaL 3–⁠1528%
Oct 7vs11AuburnL 12–⁠2436%
Oct 14vsRutgersW 33–⁠2660%
Oct 21vsLSUW 27–⁠2153%
Oct 28atGeorgiaL 23–⁠3432%
Nov 4vsCincinnatiW 31–⁠081%
Nov 11atVanderbiltW 15–⁠1167%
Nov 18atFloridaL 28–⁠3836%
Nov 25vs8TennesseeL 10–⁠3137%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 31–⁠10; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 58th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1989.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
212–⁠220
Coach
Jerry Claiborne
Elo
1498 −2 this season
SP+ rating
-0.7 No. 58 of 103; offense No. 81, defense No. 30
SRS
1.1 No. 51 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1990

The 1990 draft
Rd 3Oliver Barnett DEAtlanta Falcons
Rd 7Donnie Gardner DETampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Andy Murray RBHouston Oilers

All-SEC

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Joel MazzellaOGAP-2
  • Alfred RawlsRBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee6–⁠111–⁠15
Auburn6–⁠110–⁠26
Alabama6–⁠110–⁠29
Ole Miss4–⁠38–⁠4
Florida4–⁠37–⁠5
Georgia4–⁠36–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠56–⁠5
LSU2–⁠54–⁠7
Mississippi State1–⁠65–⁠6
Vanderbilt0–⁠71–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.