Kentucky finally beats Florida!

It has been as sure a thing as death and taxes ... and Clemson losing at North Carolina in basketball. And if you're a Kentucky Wildcats football fan, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Ever since the beginning of time it seems Kentucky has been a basketball school; but I'm sure there are a few of the UK faithful out there dreaming of the day the football team reaches the same lofty heights as the basketball program (which has won 8 NCAA championships). That day is not going to come this season (and probably no other season either), but nevertheless the 2018 season already has become a memorable one, because of what happened last Saturday night. What happened? The Wildcats beat Florida, that's what, with the final score of 27-16 at long last bringing to an end their streak of 31 consecutive losses to the Gators.

The 31-game streak has nothing on Clemson's basketball streak against North Carolina. The Tigers have never won at Chapel Hill, losing on all 59 of their trips there (and counting). But what the Wildcats' streak does have on Clemson's was that it had been an annual occurrence. Ever since the ACC expanded a few years ago, Clemson isn't scheduled to play at North Carolina every season anymore; but Kentucky and Florida have been and continue to be on each other's football schedule every year. And whether the game was played in Lexington or Gainesville mattered not. Each and every year for the last 31 years in a row watching the Wildcats play Florida has been a painful experience for UK fans. Perhaps bringing the most pain was last year's game at home, in which the Wildcats led 27-14 with 10 minutes to play yet found a way to lose. But this year at Gainesville the Wildcats finally got the job finished. It got a little scary near the end after Florida scored a TD to pull within 21-16 with 3:34 remaining; but this time the Wildcats would not be denied.

In addition to defeating the Gators for the first time since 1986, the Wildcats also won in Gainesville for the first time since 1979, ending their streak of 19 consecutive road losses to Florida. By now you're probably asking why anyone other than Florida and Kentucky fans would care. Well, I care because it was the way that Kentucky won. After all, it was a trio of players with dreads who scored 2 of their 3 offensive touchdowns and gained 367 of their 454 total yards.

That's sophomore WR Lynn Bowden in the photo at the top, taunting Gators fans with the "Gator Chomp" gesture after the game - wisely keeping his helmet on while doing it. He finished with 4 catches for 79 yards, including a 54-yard reception for his 1st career TD (that's him on his way to the end zone in the photo above on the left).

Not reaching the end zone on any of his 29 touches but still doing a lot of damage was junior RB Benny Snell. A 2nd team All-SEC selection last season, during which he rushed for over 1,300 yards and scored 19 TD, Snell (in photo on right, with his dreads confined inside his helmet, and in photo on left below, as he celebrated after the game) rushed for 175 yards on 27 carries and had 2 catches for 8 yards. His 20-yard run on 3rd and 1 for Kentucky's final 1st down of the night with under 3 minutes to play assured that if the Gators ever got the ball back, it would be with very little time remaining (29 seconds, as it turned out).

Last but certainly not least, sophomore QB Terry Wilson rushed for a TD and threw his first 2 TD passes in a Kentucky uniform, finishing with 105 yards rushing on 10 carries and completing 11 of 16 passes for 151 yards. On the Wildcats' opening 9-play, 91-yard drive Wilson had a run of 31 yards then capped the drive with a 29-yard TD pass on 2nd and 16. Then after the Gators took the lead with a FG and TD on their next two possessions, Wilson - whose Instagram and Twitter handle is Terry Touchdown - became Terry Turnover, with his fumble and interception - both in Florida territory - thwarting UK's final two possessions of the 1st half.

But Wilson came out smoking in the 2nd half, running for a 24-yard TD (in photo on the right) to cap a 10-play, 90-yard opening drive then hitting Bowden with a perfect deep pass on 3rd and 16 on the next drive as the Wldcats turned the 10-7 deficit into a 21-10 lead.

Wilson originally signed to play for the Oregon Ducks; but after redshirting in 2016, he transferred to a junior college last year. And after having a good season there, he chose Kentucky. And despite his 5 turnovers in the first 2 games (gonna have to stop doing that), no doubt a lot of UK fans are glad he did.

If you want, you can click on the first link below for a video of most of the Kentucky highlights in the game. The second link is to a video of Snell and Wilson being interviewed on the field after the game. The third link is to the recap of the game from the UK football website, which I'm including because it has links to the bios of Snell, Wilson, and Bowden (just click on their names) in case you want to find out more about them. And the bottom link is to a story of the game from the Lexington Herald Leader, which also includes links to videos of Snell's and Wilson's postgame comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoBBCldU1J4

http://www.secsports.com/video/24619912/wildcats-defy-odds-win-gators

https://ukathletics.com/news/2018/9/8/football-streak-over-cats-top-gators-27-16-in-gainesville.aspx

https://www.kentucky.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/john-clay/article218091130.html

The win puts Kentucky right in the middle of the race for 2nd place in the SEC East (assuming, of course, that Georgia is way better than everybody else). Hopefully this wasn't just a fluke. Hopefully Wilson is planning on playing up to his potential in every game for the rest of the season. If that happens, then maybe 2018 will turn out to be really memorable for Kentucky football.