Kentucky — SEC
HC
Will Stein · Kroger Field · Lexington, KY · 61,000 cap
PPA off / def
0.09 / 0.17
2025
Class rank
#60
class of 2026
Returning PPA
19%
returning production
| 1935 |
OSU W 19–6 | Columbus |
| 1919 |
OSU W 49–0 | Columbus |
2026 schedule
2025 results (5–7)
Statistical comps — 2025 Kentucky's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (31 in / 27 out)
Origins
Bryant coached here first, winning the 1950 SEC title before leaving because basketball would always come first in Lexington. That remains broadly true, which makes the occasional ten-win season feel enormous.
Founded 1865 · Land-grant college created from the state's agricultural and mechanical fund · first football 1881 · defined by Bear Bryant
All-time record
All-time
549–606–37
1895–2025
Win %
47.6%
122 seasons played
Winning seasons
53
43% of seasons
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 1950 | 11 | 1 | SEC |
| 1977 | 10 | 1 | SEC |
| 2021 | 10 | 3 | SEC |
| 2018 | 10 | 3 | SEC |
| 1984 | 9 | 3 | SEC |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1895 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 292 | 63% |
41% | 91 of 136 | 5.1 | 11% |
| 2nd down | 228 | 48% |
45% | 22 of 136 | 5.9 | 10% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 41 | 68% |
71% | — | 4.4 | 5% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 44 | 20% |
48% | — | 5.2 | 9% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 53 | 17% |
13% | — | 3.5 | 11% |
| 4th down | 14 | 50% |
50% | — | 3.4 | 14% |
142 drives · 30% ended in points · 6.9 plays and 37.6 yards per drive · 0.52 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 1 | Toledo |
Dante Dowdell run for 79 yds for a TD (Jacob Kauwe KICK) |
79 | 6.33 |
| 9 | Tennessee |
(06:31) Shotgun #8 C.Boley pass complete short right to #1 K.Law caught at UK25, for 71 ya… |
71 | 6.19 |
| 12 | Tennessee Tech |
(02:33) No Huddle-Shotgun #8 C.Boley pass complete short middle to #17 H.Gilmore IV caught… |
45 | 5.90 |
| 11 | Florida |
(12:26) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 D.Dowdell rush middle for 65 yards gain to the UF00 TOUCHDOWN… |
65 | 5.24 |
| 9 | Tennessee |
(12:46) No Huddle-Shotgun #8 C.Boley pass complete deep left to #7 D.Miller caught at UT33… |
56 | 4.74 |
| 13 | Vanderbilt |
J.J. Hester 41 Yd pass from Cutter Boley (Jacob Kauwe Kick) |
41 | 4.12 |
| 5 | South Carolina |
Cutter Boley pass complete to Willie Rodriguez for 53 yds to the SC 23 for a 1ST down |
53 | 4.05 |
| 3 | Eastern Michigan |
Cutter Boley pass complete to Willie Rodriguez for 25 yds to the EMU 24 for a 1ST down |
25 | 3.97 |