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2018 Kentucky

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Mark Stoops, finished No. 12 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 2018, game by game: won vs. Central Michigan 35–20; won at No. 25 Florida 27–16; won vs. Murray State 48–10; won vs. No. 14 Mississippi State 28–7; won vs. South Carolina 24–10; lost at Texas A&M 14–20; won vs. Vanderbilt 14–7; won at Missouri 15–14; lost vs. No. 6 Georgia 17–34; lost at Tennessee 7–24; won vs. Middle Tennessee 34–23; won at Louisville 56–10; won vs. No. 13 Penn State 27–24+46−17Won 35–20 vs. Central Michigan+15Central MichiganWon 27–16 at No. 25 Florida+11No. 25 FloridaWon 48–10 vs. Murray State+38Murray StateWon 28–7 vs. No. 14 Mississippi State+21No. 14 Mississippi Sta…Won 24–10 vs. South Carolina+14South CarolinaLost 14–20 at Texas A&M-6Texas A&MWon 14–7 vs. Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltWon 15–14 at Missouri+1MissouriLost 17–34 vs. No. 6 Georgia-17No. 6 GeorgiaLost 7–24 at Tennessee-17TennesseeWon 34–23 vs. Middle Tennessee+11Middle TennesseeWon 56–10 at Louisville+46LouisvilleWon 27–24 vs. No. 13 Penn State+3No. 13 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsCentral MichiganW 35–⁠2060%
Sep 8at25FloridaW 27–⁠1642%
Sep 15vsMurray StateW 48–⁠1093%
Sep 22vs14Mississippi StateW 28–⁠744%
Sep 29vsSouth CarolinaW 24–⁠1059%
Oct 6atTexas A&ML 14–⁠2050%
Oct 20vsVanderbiltW 14–⁠775%
Oct 27atMissouriW 15–⁠1447%
Nov 3vs6GeorgiaL 17–⁠3438%
Nov 10atTennesseeL 7–⁠2462%
Nov 17vsMiddle TennesseeW 34–⁠2359%
Nov 24atLouisvilleW 56–⁠1069%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs13Penn StateCitrus BowlW 27–⁠2433%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Penn State 27–⁠24 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 12 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 17
  2. Wk 6: 13
  3. Wk 7: 18
  4. Wk 8: 14
  5. Wk 9: 12
  6. Wk 10: 11
  7. Wk 11: 12
  8. Wk 12: 20
  9. Wk 13: 17
  10. Wk 14: 16
  11. Wk 15: 16
  12. Final: 12

Bronko Nagurski TrophyJosh Allen, LB; also the Bednarik

Consensus All-AmericanJosh Allen, LB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 12 peak No. 11
Points
346–⁠219
Coach
Mark Stoops
Elo
1623 +114 this season
SP+ rating
13.1 No. 25 of 130; offense No. 63, defense No. 15, special teams No. 72
SRS
11.9 No. 21 of 130 in FBS
Returning
34% of last season’s EPA, No. 111 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 37 roster talent No. 32 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw
Defensive coordinator
Matt House
Offense
Spread
Defense
3–⁠4 or 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense77th of 130
  • Defense33rd of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted60th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted25th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0843%1.1177th of 130
Defense0.0440%1.1833rd of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.11 off
0.02 def		44% off
37% def		—60th off
25th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.7own 2918% allowed
Defense2.6own 2621% caused

CORE rating 6.7, 30th of 130 (offense -0.2, defense -6.9).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsTerry Wilson QB1,887 yds
Passing touchdownsTerry Wilson QB10 TD
Rushing yardsBenny Snell Jr. RB1,434 yds
Rushing touchdownsBenny Snell Jr. RB16 TD
Receiving yardsLynn Bowden Jr. WR745 yds
Receiving touchdownsLynn Bowden Jr. WR5 TD
TacklesJosh Allen LB88 tkl
SacksJosh Allen LB17 sacks
InterceptionsDarius West S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Marquan McCall OG★★★★No. 194
Darian Kinnard OT★★★★No. 314
Chris Oats OLB★★★★No. 325
Stanley Garner CB★★★No. 467
DeAndre Square S★★★No. 544

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.806
Running backs13.00.847
Receivers62.80.848
Offensive line63.20.859
Defensive line23.00.857
Linebackers14.00.896
Defensive backs33.00.872
Athletes and specialists53.00.834
Whole class253.00.852

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 1Josh Allen OLBJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 2Lonnie Johnson Jr. CBHouston Texans
Rd 3Mike Edwards STampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 4Benny Snell Jr. RBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7George Asafo-Adjei OGNew York Giants

Roster 107

The 2018 roster

107 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 60 have a stat line. See the roster

All-SEC

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama8–⁠014–⁠12
Georgia7–⁠111–⁠37
Kentucky5–⁠310–⁠312
Florida5–⁠310–⁠37
LSU5–⁠310–⁠36
Texas A&M5–⁠39–⁠416
Missouri4–⁠48–⁠5
Mississippi State4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠47–⁠6
Auburn3–⁠58–⁠5
Vanderbilt3–⁠56–⁠7
Tennessee2–⁠65–⁠7
Ole Miss1–⁠75–⁠7
Arkansas0–⁠82–⁠10

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