1977 Kentucky Wildcats football team

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1977 Kentucky Wildcats football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
APNo. 6
1977 record10–1 (6–0 SEC)
Head coach
Home stadiumCommonwealth Stadium
Seasons
← 1976
1978 →
1977 Southeastern Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Alabama $ 7 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 6 Kentucky 6 – 0 – 0 10 – 1 – 0
Auburn 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0
LSU 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Florida 3 – 3 – 0 6 – 4 – 1
Georgia 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Mississippi State 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Ole Miss 2 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Tennessee 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Vanderbilt 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
  • Kentucky ineligible for SEC championship due to NCAA probation. Mississippi State later forfeited all 1977 wins due to NCAA violations.
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1977 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the 1977 NCAA Division I football season. The Wildcats scored 252 points while allowing 111 points. The Wildcats finished conference play undefeated but due to NCAA probation were not eligible for a share of the SEC championship or for postseason play.[1] The Wildcats finished the season ranked #6 in the final AP Poll.[2]

Regular season[]

Kentucky's 33-13 victory vs. LSU was its third in four years over the Bayou Bengals, and the Wildcats' first at Tiger Stadium since 1949, when Bear Bryant was Kentucky's coach.

In the Border Battle, Kentucky beat Tennessee by a score of 21–17. Entering that game, Kentucky had seven injured starters unable to play, including quarterback Derrick Ramsey, whose arm was injured so badly he could not throw the football. Tennessee jumped out to a 17–14 lead when backup quarterback Mike Deaton completed a 36-yard pass to Felix Wilson; the injured Ramsey then entered the game and led Kentucky to a touchdown. Tennessee's offense then took the ball to Kentucky's 22-yard line but Tennessee quarterback Jimmy Streater fumbled due to a hit by Kentucky All-American defensive end Art Still, and linebacker Kelly Kirchbaum recovered the ball to preserve the win.[3]

Schedule[]

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 10North Carolina*
W 10–7
September 17at Baylor*
L 6–2130,000
September 24West Virginia*No. 17
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 28–13
October 1at No. 4 Penn State*No. 16
W 24–2062,196
October 8Mississippi StateNo. 12
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 23–7
October 15at No. 16 LSUNo. 8
W 33–13
October 22at GeorgiaNo. 7
W 33–059,100
October 29Virginia Tech*No. 7
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 32–057,914[4]
November 5at VanderbiltdaggerNo. 7
  • Dudley Field
  • Nashville, TN
W 28–626,572
November 12at FloridaNo. 7
W 14–750,243
November 19TennesseeNo. 7
  • Commonwealth Stadium
  • Lexington, KY (Battle for the Barrel)
W 21–1757,914
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[5][6]

Personnel[]

1977 Kentucky Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
RB Randy Brooks
QB Mike Deaton
RB Joe Dipre
OL Tom Dornbrook
OL Dan Fowler
OL Will Grant
RB Robert Hawkins
RB Chris Hill
OL Dave Hopewell
OL Tom Kearns
TE Greg Nord
RB Henry Parks
TE Scott Petersen
OL Larry Petkovsek
QB Derrick Ramsey
RB Chuck Servino
RB Rod Stewart
WR Bill Tolston
WR David Trosper
RB Fred Williams
WR Felix Wilson
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL Jerry Blanton
DB Ritchie Boyd
DL Bud Diehl
DB Rich Hayden
DL Richard Jaffe
LB Kelly Kirchbaum
LB Mike Martin
DB Dallas Owens
DL James Ramey
DB Mike Siganos
DL David Stephens
DE Art Still
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K Joe Bryant
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

Game summaries[]

Penn State[]

1 234Total
• Kentucky 7 7100 24
Penn St 10 1000 20

Georgia[]

1 234Total
• Kentucky 0 101013 33
Georgia 0 000 0
  • Prince Charles in attendance

[7]

Team players in the NFL[]

Player Position Round Pick NFL Club
Art Still Defensive End 1 2 Kansas City Chiefs
Derrick Ramsey Quarterback 5 136 Oakland Raiders
Mike Martin Tackle 9 244 Chicago Bears
Will Grant Center 10 255 Buffalo Bills
Dallas Owens Defensive Back 10 275 Baltimore Colts
Jerry Blanton Linebacker 11 282 Buffalo Bills

[8]

Awards and honors[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-10-07. Retrieved 2014-01-09.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ "Final 1977 AP Poll at AP Poll Archive.com". Archived from the original on 2009-06-03. Retrieved 2009-05-31.
  3. ^ Story, Mark, UK football's greatest wins at Commonwealth, Lexington Herald-Leader, September 4, 2011
  4. ^ "Mistakes don't matter as UK smothers VPI". The Courier-Journal. October 30, 1977. Retrieved December 14, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ 1997 Kentucky Football Media Guide, p.168
  6. ^ "Kentucky in the 1977 AP polls, AP Poll Archive". Archived from the original on 2009-10-05. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
  7. ^ Ocala Star-Banner. 1977 Oct 23. Retrieved 2018-Nov-03.
  8. ^ https://www.pro-football-reference.com/draft/1978.htm[bare URL]
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