The 2017 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

in the

2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2017. The regular season began on August 26, 2017, and end ...

. The Wildcats played their home games at

Kroger Field Kroger Field, formerly known as Commonwealth Stadium, is a stadium in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, located on the campus of the University of Kentucky that primarily serves as the home field for the Kentucky Wildcats football team. The stad ...

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

. Kentucky played as a member of the Eastern Division of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

. They were led by fifth-year head coach

Mark Stoops Mark Thomas Stoops (born July 9, 1967) is an American college football coach and former player. He is currently the all time winningest head football coach in the history of the Kentucky Wildcats. Early life Stoops, one of six children born to ...

. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in SEC play to finish in a tie for third place in the Eastern Division. They were invited to the

Music City Bowl The Music City Bowl is a post-season American college football bowl game certified by the NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by TransPerfect and is officially known as the ''TransPerf ...

where they lost to Northwestern.

Offseason

Spring Game

The spring game took place on April 14, in Lexington.

Departures

2017 signing class

Prior to

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association ( ...

on February 1, 2017, seven players enrolled for the spring semester in order to participate in spring practice and included six former high school seniors and one junior college transfer. On National Signing Day, Kentucky signed an additional seventeen players out of high school and junior college that completed the 2017 recruiting class.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops enters his fifth season as the Wildcat's head coach for the 2017 season. During his previous four seasons he led the Wildcats to an overall record of 19 wins and 30 losses. On January 18, 2017, Defensive Coordinator D.J. Eliot announced he would not return to the program for the 2017 season as the defensive coordinator to instead continue his career at

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. In his place Kentucky promoted special teams coordinator

Matt House Matt House is an American football coach who is currently the defensive coordinator for the LSU Tigers. Coaching career House began his coaching career at his alma mater Michigan State University in 2001. After the 2002 season he went to th ...

as Defensive Coordinator at Kentucky.

Roster

Schedule and results

The Wildcats' 2017 schedule consisted of seven home games and five away games. Kentucky hosted three of its four non-conference games—against

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

from the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern and Southeastern United States, Southeastern United States. It participates in NCAA Divisi ...

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

, and

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

from the

ACC ACC most often refers to: * Atlantic Coast Conference, an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic conference located in the US *American College of Cardiology, A US-based nonprofit medical association that bestows credentials upon cardiovascular spec ...

. They traveled to

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

for their only road non-conference game. The Wildcats played eight conference games, hosting

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, and Ole Miss and traveling to

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, Vanderbilt, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. :Schedule Source:

Game summaries

At Southern Miss

Eastern Kentucky

At South Carolina

#20 Florida

Eastern Michigan

Missouri

At Mississippi State

Tennessee

Ole Miss

At Vanderbilt

At #7 Georgia

Louisville

#23 Northwestern–Music City Bowl

Awards and milestones

SEC honors

All-SEC First Team

Benny Snell Benjamin Snell Jr. (born February 26, 1998) is an American football running back for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kentucky. Snell is the great-nephew of former New York Jets runnin ...

, RB (AP)

All-SEC Second Team

Josh Allen Josh or Joshua Allen may refer to: * Josh Allen (offensive lineman) (born 1991), former American football player * Josh Allen (quarterback) (born 1996), American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills since 2018 * Josh Allen (defen ...

, LB (AP) * Benny Snell, RB (coaches)

Freshman All-SEC

Lynn Bowden Lynn Bowden Jr. (born October 14, 1997) is an American football wide receiver for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kentucky where he was the team's starting quarterback for seven g ...

, RS

School records

* Most touchdowns scored in a season: 18, Benny Snell (ongoing) * Most rushing touchdowns in a season: 18, Benny Snell (ongoing) * Most career rushing touchdowns: 31, Benny Snell (ongoing) * Most points scored in a season: 110, Benny Snell (ongoing) * Most career points scored: 354,

Austin MacGinnis Austin MacGinnis (born May 4, 1995) is an American football placekicker for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at University of Kentucky. College career MacGinnis was a consensus ...

(ongoing) * Most field goals in a season: 21, Austin MacGinnis (ongoing; ties own record from 2016) * Most career field goals: 71, Austin MacGinnis (ongoing)

National awards and honors

Wuerffel Trophy The Wuerffel Trophy is an award given annually to the college football player "who best combines exemplary community service with athletic and academic achievement." The trophy, designed by W. Stanley Proctor and named in honor of former Universi ...

— Courtney Love

References

{{Kentucky Wildcats football navbox

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Kentucky Wildcats football seasons

Kentucky Wildcats football The Kentucky Wildcats football program represents the University of Kentucky in the sport of American football. The Wildcats compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern D ...