CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2021 Kentucky

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Mark Stoops, finished No. 18 in the AP poll. Officially 0–⁠3: the NCAA vacated nine regular-season wins and the 2022 Citrus Bowl win.

From the season’s Wikipedia article: “Although the NCAA has not announced the full penalties, it has been indicated by the university that those penalties will include a 2–year probation and vacation of all games in which the ineligible players participated for those two seasons.”

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 2021, game by game: won vs. UL Monroe 45–10; won vs. Missouri 35–28; won vs. Chattanooga 28–23; won at South Carolina 16–10; won vs. No. 10 Florida 20–13; won vs. LSU 42–21; lost at No. 1 Georgia 13–30; lost at Mississippi State 17–31; lost vs. Tennessee 42–45; won at Vanderbilt 34–17; won vs. New Mexico State 56–16; won at Louisville 52–21; won vs. No. 17 Iowa 20–17+40−17Won 45–10 vs. UL Monroe+35UL MonroeWon 35–28 vs. Missouri+7MissouriWon 28–23 vs. Chattanooga+5ChattanoogaWon 16–10 at South Carolina+6South CarolinaWon 20–13 vs. No. 10 Florida+7No. 10 FloridaWon 42–21 vs. LSU+21LSULost 13–30 at No. 1 Georgia-17No. 1 GeorgiaLost 17–31 at Mississippi State-14Mississippi Sta…Lost 42–45 vs. Tennessee-3TennesseeWon 34–17 at Vanderbilt+17VanderbiltWon 56–16 vs. New Mexico State+40New Mexico StateWon 52–21 at Louisville+31LouisvilleWon 20–17 vs. No. 17 Iowa+3No. 17 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsUL MonroeW 45–⁠10vacated82%
Sep 11vsMissouriW 35–⁠28vacated63%
Sep 18vsChattanoogaW 28–⁠23vacated86%
Sep 25atSouth CarolinaW 16–⁠10vacated60%
Oct 2vs10FloridaW 20–⁠13vacated48%
Oct 9vsLSUW 42–⁠21vacated61%
Oct 16at1GeorgiaL 13–⁠3025%
Oct 30atMississippi StateL 17–⁠3155%
Nov 6vsTennesseeL 42–⁠4569%
Nov 13atVanderbiltW 34–⁠17vacated81%
Nov 20vsNew Mexico StateW 56–⁠16vacated90%
Nov 27atLouisvilleW 52–⁠21vacated47%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs17IowaCitrus BowlW 20–⁠17vacated45%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa 20–⁠17 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 6th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 16
  2. Wk 7: 11
  3. Wk 8: 15
  4. Wk 9: 12
  5. Wk 10: 18
  6. Wk 14: 25
  7. Wk 15: 25
  8. Final: 18

Consensus All-AmericanDarian Kinnard, OL

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 11
Points
420–⁠282
Coach
Mark Stoops
Elo
1644 +96 this season
SP+ rating
13.4 No. 23 of 130; offense No. 21, defense No. 35
SRS
9.2 No. 26 of 130 in FBS
Returning
39% of last season’s EPA, No. 116 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 32 roster talent No. 30 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Liam Coen
Defensive coordinators
Brad White and Jon Sumrall
Offense
Multiple pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4 or 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense45th of 130
  • Defense37th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted44th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted34th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1850%1.1145th of 130
Defense0.0944%1.1837th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.18 off
0.10 def		50% off
44% def		—44th off
34th 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
Offense4.9own 2815% allowed
Defense3.6own 2718% caused

CORE rating 6.0, 44th of 130 (offense 3.7, defense -2.3).

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 yardsWill Levis QB2,826 yds
Passing touchdownsWill Levis QB24 TD
Rushing yardsChris Rodriguez Jr. RB1,379 yds
Rushing touchdownsChris Rodriguez Jr. RB9 TD
Receiving yardsWan’Dale Robinson WR1,334 yds
Receiving touchdownsWan’Dale Robinson WR7 TD
TacklesJacquez Jones LB82 tkl
SacksJ.J. Weaver LB6.5 sacks
InterceptionsJ.J. Weaver LB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Jager Burton OL★★★★No. 139
Trevin Wallace LB★★★★No. 141
Dekel Crowdus WR★★★★No. 307
Chris Lewis WR★★★★No. 342
Jordan Dingle TE★★★No. 480

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

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.860
Receivers43.50.890
Offensive line33.30.889
Defensive line23.00.867
Linebackers23.50.906
Defensive backs43.00.863
Athletes and specialists23.00.827
Whole class183.20.874

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 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 2Wan’Dale Robinson WRNew York Giants
Rd 2Josh Paschal DEDetroit Lions
Rd 3Luke Fortner CJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 5Darian Kinnard OGKansas City Chiefs

Roster 125

The 2021 roster

125 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 65 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 7

The 2021 portal
Wan’Dale Robinson WR★★★★from Nebraska
Dare Rosenthal OT★★★from LSU
Jacquez Jones LB★★★from Ole Miss
Will Levis QB★★★from Penn State
Tre’Von Morgan WR★★★from Michigan State
Luke Fulton LB★★★from Michigan State
Justice Dingle SDE★★★from Georgia Tech

Transfers out 10

Akeem Hayes WR★★★to Arkansas State
Allen Dailey WR★★★to South Alabama
Bryce Oliver WR★★★no new school on file
Jamari Brown CB★★★no new school on file
Jerquavion Mahone DL★★★to Temple
M.J. Devonshire CB★★★to Pittsburgh
Nick Lewis OT★★★to Arkansas State
Nik Ognenovic TE★★★to Akron
Terry Wilson QB★★★to New Mexico
Johnathan Mosley QBno new school on file

All-SEC

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠014–⁠11
Alabama7–⁠113–⁠22
Ole Miss6–⁠210–⁠311
Kentucky5–⁠310–⁠318
Arkansas4–⁠49–⁠421
Texas A&M4–⁠48–⁠4
Tennessee4–⁠47–⁠6
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠6
South Carolina3–⁠57–⁠6
LSU3–⁠56–⁠7
Auburn3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Florida2–⁠66–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠10

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