2017 Kentucky Wildcats football team


The 2017 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Kroger Field in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky played as a member of the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference. They were led by fifth-year head coach Mark Stoops. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in SEC play to finish in a tie for third place in the Eastern Division. They were invited to the Music City Bowl where they lost to Northwestern.

Previous season

In 2016, the Wildcats won seven out of their last ten games after starting the season 0–2, completing their fourth year under Mark Stoops at 7–5 and 4–4 in the SEC. They defeated in-state rival and ninth-ranked Louisville, 41–38, to end the regular season. In the postseason, the Wildcats competed in the TaxSlayer Bowl, losing to Georgia Tech 18–33.

Offseason

Spring Game

The spring game took place on April 14, in Lexington.
DateTimeSpring GameSiteTVResultAttendance
April 147:30 p.m.Blue vs. WhiteKroger Field • Lexington, KYSEC Network31–14 Blue
37,172

Departures

2017 signing class

Prior to National Signing Day on February 1, 2017, seven players enrolled for the spring semester in order to participate in spring practice and included six former high school seniors and one junior college transfer. On National Signing Day, Kentucky signed an additional seventeen players out of high school and junior college that completed the 2017 recruiting class.

Personnel

Coaching staff

Mark Stoops enters his fifth season as the Wildcat's head coach for the 2017 season. During his previous four seasons he led the Wildcats to an overall record of 19 wins and 30 losses.
On January 18, 2017 Defensive Coordinator D.J. Eliot announced he would not return to the program for the 2017 season as the defensive coordinator to instead continue his career at Colorado. In his place Kentucky promoted special teams coordinator Matt House as Defensive Coordinator at Kentucky.

Roster

Schedule and results

The Wildcats' 2017 schedule consisted of seven home games and five away games. Kentucky hosted three of its four non-conference games—against Eastern Kentucky from the Ohio Valley Conference, Eastern Michigan from the Mid-American Conference, and Louisville from the ACC. They traveled to Southern Miss for their only road non-conference game. The Wildcats played eight conference games, hosting Florida, Missouri, Tennessee, and Ole Miss and traveling to South Carolina, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, and Georgia.

Game summaries

at Southern Miss

Overall recordLast meetingResult
2–12016Southern Miss, 44–35

Eastern Kentucky

4–02015Kentucky, 34–27 OT

at South Carolina

Overall recordLast meetingResult
10–17–12016Kentucky, 17–10

#20 Florida

17–502016Florida, 45–7

Eastern Michigan

Missouri

at Mississippi State

Overall recordLast meetingResult
22–222016Kentucky, 40–38

Tennessee

24–79–92016Tennessee, 49–36

Ole Miss

14–27–12011Kentucky, 30–13

at Vanderbilt

Overall recordLast meetingResult
44–42–42016Kentucky, 20–13

at #7 Georgia

Overall recordLast meetingResult
12–56–22016Georgia, 27–24

Louisville

15–142016Kentucky, 41–38

#23 Northwestern–Music City Bowl

0–11928Northwestern, 7–0

Awards and milestones

SEC honors

All-SEC First Team