LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The University of Kentucky Wildcats football team will face the Clemson Tigers in the 79th annual TaxSlayer Gator Bowl Friday afternoon.
The game will take place in Jacksonville, Florida, at Everbank Stadium. Kickoff is at noon on ESPN/ESPN+.
The Cats finished the regular season 7-5, capping things off with a victory in the Governor's Cup against then-tenth-ranked Louisville.
It was an up-and-down season, starting the year 5-0 and then going on a three-game skid after a loss on the road to top-ranked Georgia.
UK has been bowl-eligible for three straight years and seven of the last eight seasons.
All of that success has come under head coach Mark Stoops who is now the winningest coach in program history.
This year's offense was led by quarterback Devin Leary who threw for 2,440 yards (9th in the SEC), scoring 23 touchdowns (tied for 2nd in SEC) against 10 interceptions (most in the conference) based on statistics from ESPN.
Senior Ray Davis led the Cats on the ground, rushing 1,066 yards (3rd in the SEC), averaging 5.7 yards a carry and scoring 13 touchdowns (tied for 2nd in conference per ESPN).
As a team, the Cats were mid-table in the conference on the defense end, sitting at eighth in the SEC in points allowed (24.8 points per game).
However, UK did have some standout individual defenders, including sophomore DB Maxwell Hairston, who snagged five interceptions on the season (tied for first in SEC).
Sophomore defensive lineman Deone Walker, senior linebacker J.J Weaver, and Junior linebacker Trevin Wallace also had significant impacts, recording 5.5, 5.0, and 4.5 sacks on the season, respectively.
