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2022 Kentucky

7–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Southeastern Conference), coached by Mark Stoops.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 2022, game by game: won vs. Miami (OH) 37–13; won at No. 12 Florida 26–16; won vs. Youngstown State 31–0; won vs. Northern Illinois 31–23; lost at No. 14 Ole Miss 19–22; lost vs. South Carolina 14–24; won vs. No. 16 Mississippi State 27–17; lost at No. 3 Tennessee 6–44; won at Missouri 21–17; lost vs. Vanderbilt 21–24; lost vs. No. 1 Georgia 6–16; won vs. Louisville 26–13; lost vs. Iowa 0–21+31−38Won 37–13 vs. Miami (OH)+24Miami (OH)Won 26–16 at No. 12 Florida+10No. 12 FloridaWon 31–0 vs. Youngstown State+31Youngstown StateWon 31–23 vs. Northern Illinois+8Northern Illino…Lost 19–22 at No. 14 Ole Miss-3No. 14 Ole MissLost 14–24 vs. South Carolina-10South CarolinaWon 27–17 vs. No. 16 Mississippi State+10No. 16 Mississippi Sta…Lost 6–44 at No. 3 Tennessee-38No. 3 TennesseeWon 21–17 at Missouri+4MissouriLost 21–24 vs. Vanderbilt-3VanderbiltLost 6–16 vs. No. 1 Georgia-10No. 1 GeorgiaWon 26–13 vs. Louisville+13LouisvilleLost 0–21 vs. Iowa-21Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsMiami (OH)W 37–⁠1366%
Sep 10at12FloridaW 26–⁠1652%
Sep 17vsYoungstown StateW 31–⁠089%
Sep 24vsNorthern IllinoisW 31–⁠2382%
Oct 1at14Ole MissL 19–⁠2242%
Oct 8vsSouth CarolinaL 14–⁠2473%
Oct 15vs16Mississippi StateW 27–⁠1756%
Oct 29at3TennesseeL 6–⁠4436%
Nov 5atMissouriW 21–⁠1756%
Nov 12vsVanderbiltL 21–⁠2484%
Nov 19vs1GeorgiaL 6–⁠1624%
Nov 26vsLouisvilleW 26–⁠1351%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsIowaMusic City BowlL 0–⁠2148%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 21–⁠0 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 22nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 20
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 13
  7. Wk 7: 22
  8. Wk 8: 19
  9. Wk 9: 19
Record
7–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 7
Points
265–⁠250
Coach
Mark Stoops
Elo
1573 −23 this season
SP+ rating
13.0 No. 25 of 131; offense No. 91, defense No. 6, special teams No. 71
SRS
5.5 No. 42 of 131 in FBS
Returning
62% of last season’s EPA, No. 60 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 14 roster talent No. 27 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Rich Scangarello
Defensive coordinator
Brad White
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4 or 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense91st of 131
  • Defense14th of 131
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted79th of 131
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted12th of 131
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0339%1.2291st of 131
Defense-0.0138%1.2314th of 131
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
-0.01 def		40% off
37% def		—79th off
12th 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
Offense3.2own 2818% allowed
Defense3.1own 3014% caused

CORE rating 10.4, 22nd of 131 (offense -3.1, defense -13.5).

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 QB2,406 yds
Passing touchdownsWill Levis QB19 TD
Rushing yardsChris Rodriguez Jr. RB903 yds
Rushing touchdownsChris Rodriguez Jr. RB6 TD
Receiving yardsBarion Brown WR628 yds
Receiving touchdownsDane Key WR6 TD
TacklesD’Eryk Jackson LB61 tkl
SacksJ.J. Weaver LB3 sacks
InterceptionsJordan Lovett DB2 INT

Top recruits in the 2022 class

Kiyaunta Goodwin OT★★★★No. 38
Barion Brown WR★★★★No. 97
Tyreese Fearbry DE★★★★No. 185
Keaten Wade LB★★★★No. 197
Dane Key WR★★★★No. 235
Alex Afari Jr. ATH★★★★No. 272
Deone Walker DL★★★★No. 290
Grant Bingham OT★★★★No. 342

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

The 2022 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers43.50.894
Offensive line33.70.920
Defensive line53.40.884
Linebackers14.00.922
Defensive backs23.00.868
Athletes and specialists53.80.881
Whole class203.60.891

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 2023

The 2023 draft
Rd 2Will Levis QBTennessee Titans
Rd 6Chris Rodriguez Jr. RBWashington Commanders
Rd 7Carrington Valentine CBGreen Bay Packers

Roster 117

The 2022 roster

117 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2022 line; 58 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 9

The 2022 portal
Keidron Smith CB★★★★from Ole Miss
Ramon Jefferson RB★★★★from Sam Houston
Darrion Henry DL★★★from Ohio State
Tayvion Robinson WR★★★from Virginia Tech
Tashawn Manning DL★★★from Auburn
Deuce Hogan QB★★★from Iowa
Dee Beckwith RB★★★from Tennessee
Zion Childress S★★★from Texas State
Jordan Robinson CBfrom Livingstone College

Transfers out 19

Cedrick Dort Jr. CB★★★to Wisconsin
Joel Williams CB★★★to Memphis
Isaiah Gibson DL★★★to Marshall
Jared Casey LB★★★to Indiana
Beau Allen QB★★★to Tarleton State
Rickey Hyatt Jr. S★★★to South Alabama
Nik Scalzo QB★★★to Samford
Jake Pope OT★★no new school on file
Joey Gatewood QB★★★★to UCF
Moses Douglass S★★★★to Alabama A&M
Earnest Sanders IV WR★★★no new school on file
Isaiah Epps WR★★★to Tulsa

And 7 more, lower-rated or unrated.

All-SEC

2 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2022 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2022 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia8–⁠015–⁠01
Tennessee6–⁠211–⁠26
Alabama6–⁠211–⁠25
LSU6–⁠210–⁠416
Mississippi State4–⁠49–⁠420
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠5
South Carolina4–⁠48–⁠523
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠57–⁠6
Florida3–⁠56–⁠7
Missouri3–⁠56–⁠7
Vanderbilt2–⁠65–⁠7
Texas A&M2–⁠65–⁠7
Auburn2–⁠65–⁠7

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