Preview
Coming off a Southeastern Conference road win at Auburn, Kentucky returns to Kroger Field on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET, SEC Network) to host SEC rival Florida.
The Cats got a huge defensive effort against the Tigers, giving up just 241 yards and only three points. UK is now 3-5 on the season and 1-5 in league play.
Florida is also 3-5 this season, although the Gators are 2-3 in SEC action. Florida lost to Georgia 24-20 last weekend.
The Gators beat the Cats last year in Gainesville, but UK has won the last two meetings between the teams in Lexington.
Cat Scratches: Effort, Energy, Enthusiasm Boost UK Defense
The Kentucky defense played one of its best games of the year in Saturday’s 10-3 win at Auburn. The Cats will face yet another challenge this weekend when the Florida Gators visit Kroger Field.
Following Wednesday’s practice, UK defensive coordinator Brad White spoke to the media, and he talked about how hard and well his unit played on Saturday.
“What stood out on Saturday was the effort with which they played,” White said. “There was effort, there was energy, there was enthusiasm, they were pulling for each other, the whole nine. So we need to repeat the performance of that. Then you tack on execution and that ended up being a good night.”
The Cats were seemingly in the Auburn backfield all night on Saturday, registering seven sacks in the process. White talked about how that defensive pressure can affect opposing quarterbacks…Read More
KENTUCKY-FLORIDA
The Series
• Kentucky trails Florida in the all-time, on-field series, 54-21.
• UK also trails UF in Lexington, 22-12.
• UK has won the last two straight in Lexington (2021, 2023).
• UK and UF have not played a November game in Lexington since 1991, which resulted in a UF triumph, 35-26.
• The Wildcat have won three of the past four meetings.
In the Last Meeting
• Kentucky lost to Florida, 48-20, in The Swamp on Oct. 19, 2024.
• Barion Brown set a Southeastern Conference record with his fifth career kickoff return for a touchdown.
• Kentucky got nine tackles from Jordan Lovett and seven from Alex Afari Jr. and Zion Childress. In fact, Afari had 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
The Connections
• Kentucky has eight players from the state of Florida on its roster, including WR Hardley Gilmore IV (Belle Glade), OL Bryan J. Auguste (Boynton Beach), OL Joshua Braun (Live Oak), DB Kevis Thomas (Perry), RB Jason Patterson (Sneads) and a trio from Fort Lauderdale – OL Alexander Dimartino, RB Tovani Mizell and WR Troy Stellato.
• Kentucky has two players that previously played for Florida, including two starters on the offensive line.
• OL Joshua Braun played three seasons for the Gators, appearing in 26 games with seven starts from 2020-2022.
• OL Jalen Farmer played two seasons for the Gators, appearing in just four games from 2022-2023.
• Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan was the wide receivers coach at Florida in 2012.
• Florida athletics director Scott Stricklin was the media relations director at UK from 2003-08.
By the Numbers
6
Aiden Laros punts (out of six) that pinned Auburn inside their own 20 yard line in last week’s game
8
Players from the state of Florida on the UK roster
12
Times Kentucky has beaten Florida in Lexington, including the last two such games
58
Career games played for UK offensive lineman Joshua Braun, including 26 in three seasons at Florida
251
Yards needed for UK wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin to reach 2,000 career receiving yards
