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, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

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, also 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 Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

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

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

. 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 the head football coach for the University of Kentucky, a position he has held since 2013. Stoops is the all-time winningest head coach in the ...

. 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 National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA that has been played in Nashville, Tennessee, since 1998 in sports, 1998. Since 2020, it has been sponsored by ...

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 Division II member of the 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 is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. In his place Kentucky promoted special teams coordinator

Matt House Matt House is an American football coach who currently serves as a senior defensive assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Coaching career House began his coaching career at his alma mater Michigan State Univ ...

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 or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *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 192 ...

from the

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in partnership with ...

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

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

, and

Louisville Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

from the ACC. They traveled to Southern Miss for their only road non-conference game. The Wildcats played eight conference games, hosting

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') 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 border ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

and traveling to

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

, Vanderbilt, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. :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, RB (AP)

All-SEC Second Team

Josh Allen Joshua Patrick Allen (born May 21, 1996) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wyoming Cowboys football, Wyoming Cow ...

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

Freshman All-SEC

* Lynn Bowden, 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 former professional football player who was a placekicker. He played college football for the Kentucky Wildcats. College career MacGinnis was a consensus first-team selection to the All-SEC ...

(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 Univers ...

— Courtney Love

References

{{Kentucky Wildcats football navbox

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

Kentucky Wildcats football seasons

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