UF wideout Trent Whittemore watches in frustration after Emory Jones' fourth-down pass fell incomplete and allowed Kentucky to hold on for a 2013 victory Saturday at Kroger Field.
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That's the third-time fine for Southeastern Conference member institutions that allow their fans to storm a field or court again.
After beating 10th-ranked Florida at home Saturday night for the first time in 35 years, the University of Kentucky will gladly stroke that check. Heck, the Wildcats, who took a $50,000 hit after beating unranked South Carolina in 2014 and another $100,000 after upsetting No. 15 Mississippi State in 2018, may just throw in a few thousand more, just for the fun of it. This was, after all, the Gators.
Finally.
UF quarterback Emory Jones's fourth-down pass in the direction of Trent Whittemore fell incomplete with 18 seconds to play and set off a Big Blue Nation celebration more than three decades in the making, as Kentucky claimed an historic 20-13 victory before a sold-out madhouse at Kroger Field. The win was the Wildcats' first over an opponent ranked in the Associated Press top 10 since taking down Steve Spurrier and 10th-ranked South Carolina in 2010 and kept the Wildcats (5-0, 3-0) unbeaten and tied with second-ranked Georgia atop the Southeastern Conference East Division standings.
Trevin Wallace returned a blocked Jace Christmann field goal 76 yards for a touchdown for the go-ahead score in the third quarter. Minutes later, the Cats capitalized on a Jones interception when tailback Chris Rodriguez Jr. put his team up by two scores in the fourth with a 9-yard touchdown run with just over nine minutes remaining.
After that, Kentucky had to hold on, leaving matters to its defense, but gladly accepting a flurry of Florida self-inflicted wounds. Namely, 15 penalties for 115 yards, including eight false starts, with each starting offensive lineman accounting for at least one.
"In the SEC, you're not going to come in and make the mistakes we made and a win a game," UF coach Dan Mullen said.
The last of those proved fatal, after Jones moved his offense to a first-and-goal at the Kentucky 5 with 31 seconds to go. After a loss of four yards on a swing pass, a false start backed the Gators up five more and eventually brought about a fourth-and-goal from the 8 with the game on the line.
Kentucky's game, as it turned out.
"They had seven or eight shots at the end," UK coach Mark Stoops said. "That's a tough hill to have to top them that many times. But there was another false start and, thank you, fans, for affecting the game."
UF coachDan Mullen saw plenty of mistakes to be troubled by, with eight of his team's 15 penalties false starts.
The Wildcats finished with just 224 yards of total offense and 13 first downs. Quarterback Will Levis completed only seven of his 17 attempts for 87 yards (almost half on one play), with a touchdown and interception. Rodriguez, the SEC's rushing leader coming into the game, carried 19 times for 99 yards and the game-sealer.
For the Gators (3-2, 1-2), Jones was 23 of 31 for 203 yards and a first-quarter touchdown to go with that big fourth-quarter pick, plus 63 yards rushing on 13 carries. Florida came into the game averaging 36.0 points and 540 yards of offense per game, including 322.5 on the ground (tops in the SEC). The Gators managed just 382 total yards and 171 rushing, respectively.
"The main thing we had to do was come out and handle the environment," Jones said of his first SEC start on the road. "I think we did that for part of the game, but we just had too many penalties."
The return of backup quarterback Anthony Richardson, who missed UF's first two SEC games with a sore hamstring, proved a mere footnote. He made cameos on three series, hitting his only pass attempt for eight yards and rushing five times for 25 yards.
Mullen was asked what about the offense wasn't working.
"The penalties," he said. "They weren't like tacky-tack things. You're talking taking third downs off the board, third down and backing us up, taking conversions and first-down runs off the board with holding penalties. Those were the issues."
And the multitude of false starts?
"That's a lack of mental toughness," he said.
The night didn't start so badly. After a swap of punts, UF found the scoreboard first. A couple 13-yard runs by Dameon Pierce, an 11-yard keeper up the middle off a zone read by Richardson, plus a 22-yard Jones-to-Xzavier Henderson completion had the Gators at the UK 7. On second down, Jones flipped a quick pass to his left that sophomore Ja'Quavion Fraziars grabbed, turned upfield and dove across the goal line for a 7-0 lead midway into the first quarter.
It soon was 7-7. The Cats needed just five plays to match UF's 75-yard scoring drive. Levis threw to Wan'Dale Robinson on a quick-hitting wideout screen to the right. The speedy Robinson cut back against the Florida pursuit, ran through a pair of arm tackles and went 41 yards for the touchdown.
In his first career road start in SEC play, Gators quarterback Emory Jones (5) completed 23 of 31 passes for 203 yards and a one touchdown, but also threw a ill-timed interception in the fourth quarter.
The next points didn't come until Jace Christmann had a 46-yard field goal nullified by a delay-of-game flag just before he launched the kick. Backed up five yards, Christmann bombed a 51-yarder for a 10-7 lead with 5:32 left in the first half.
That's the way things stood at the break.
Florida had a great chance to make it a two-score game in the third period when Levis sailed a pass intended for Josh Ali smack into the chest of UF defensive back Tre'Vez Johnson, who returned the play 26 yards to the Kentucky 16. But even that potential game-changer was married by a UF flag. Defensive tackle Antonio Valentino was called for an illegal block on the return pushing the Gators back to the UK 31 as their starting point. On third-and-3, Dameon Pierce scurried around the left side for 10 yards and what appeared to be a first down, but center Kingsley Eguakun was flagged for holding, wiping out the first down and putting UF into a third-and-long it was unable to convert.
Jace Christmann (47) lines up for a 48-yard field goal, moments before the game's decisive, game-changing play.
Enter Christmann to attempt a 48-yard field goal. The kick was blocked at the line by defensive tackle Joshua Paschal. The ball fell into the arms of Wallace, who bobbed and weaved up the left side of the field, through the Gators kicking unit and — with the crowd going Big Blue bonkers — raced to the house with a 76-yard return.
"My job is to play the safety back there in case anything goes wrong," Wallace said. "The ball got tipped and came right to me. … I knew what to do when I got the ball. I felt one lineman's hand brush off me and I knew I was gone."
The point-after was blocked, but the Cats still led 13-10 with 6:36 on the clock and all the momentum.
"You can't have the blocked kick," Mullen said. "That's a 10-point swing."
After Kentucky forced a UF punt, the Wildcats started at their 19. On first down, they got a 13-yard Levis-to-Robinson sideline completion, plus another 15 yards on a late hit by Elijah Blades. UK moved to the Florida 34 and faced a fourth-and-2 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Out of the stoppage, Rodriguez Jr. was stuffed for no gain by Brenton Cox Jr. and Trey Dean III. Momentum back to the Gators. But not for long.
Jones was intercepted two plays later by linebacker J.J. Weaver, who returned the play 20 yards to the UF 29.
Levis, despite a muff snap on third-and-2, converted with a run into the line and a pile-drive gain of seven yards. Two snaps later, Rodriguez went off the right side untouched for a 9-yard touchdown and 20-10 lead with 11:32 to go in the game.
Florida had a promising drive going, moving 59 yards in 13 plays, but had to settle for Christmann's 33-yard field goal that cut the margin to seven with 6:23 to go.
Zach Carter (6), here sacking Kentucky quarterback Will Levis, and the Florida defense played well enough to win the game, holding the Wildcats to just 224 yards of offense and forcing the unit's first turnover of the SEC season.
That left matters to the UF defense, which did its job by forcing a three-and-out and giving Jones the ball with 4:39 to play and 62 yards from tying the game. Completions of 14 yards to Gamble, then 18 and 11 to Jacob Copeland had the Gators in business at the UK 19. Another false start, though, put Jones behind schedule, but a face mask penalty against Kentucky gave UF another set of downs at the 5.
Next four plays:
* 1st and goal from the 5: Completion to Copeland for loss of four. * 2nd and goal from the 9: False start (tailback Malik Davis). * 2nd and goal from the 14: Jones run for three. * 3rd and goal from the 11: Jones to Davis for three yards. * 4th and goal from the 8: Incomplete for Whittemore in the end zone (and not even close).
Eleven seconds later: Pandemonium in blue.
"Deflating," UF defensive end Zach Carter said. "You can't have as many mistakes as we did."
