The 2013 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats competed as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) as part of its Eastern Division. The team was led by head coach Mark Stoops, in his first year and played its home games at Commonwealth Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.
Preseason
Spring game
The 2013 Blue/White Spring Game at Commonwealth Stadium saw the Blue squad squeak out a one-point victory over the White team in the annual scrimmage, 24–23. The program witnessed its largest attendance for a spring game in program history with 50,831 fans.
The Kentucky faithful finally got to see a glimpse of what the new coaching staff had been working on since joining the Big Blue Nation with Stoops coming on board in late November. Stoops promised to bring a new approach to the defensive side of the ball with his offense revisiting a familiar style of play from air-raid era with an up-tempo offense. As the Wildcats put five passing touchdowns on the board, it marked the return of the old air raid sirens that once carried through the Lexington skies on game day.
With very little decided in the way of starters and roles, all five of Kentucky's quarterbacks received reps during Saturday evening's scrimmage, with the majority of the opportunities going to Maxwell Smith, Patrick Towles and Jalen Whitlow. Coach Stoops and offensive coordinator Neal Brown have yet to determine who their starting quarterback will be going into the fall, and with very little chance to see them up-close and personal, there's no hurry to name one. However, with fairly equal playing time divvied up amongst the signal callers, it was Whitlow who threw and rushed for the most yardage in Brown's new-look schemes. Whitlow did a little bit of everything in the game, displaying a strong, accurate arm, finding multiple receivers, and showing off his speed which gives him a unique, additional element to his game. He finished the night 17-of-28 with 193 yards and two touchdowns through the air, while scampering for 49 net yards on seven attempts on the ground while toggling back and forth between the Blue and White squads.
Class of 2013 signees
Personnel
Roster
Starters by game
Offense
Defense
Schedule
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Game summaries
Western Kentucky
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Keshawn Simpson ran for a pair of 3-yard touchdowns and Antonio Andrews added his own 3-yard score as Western Kentucky beat Kentucky 35–26 Saturday night making coach Bobby Petrino a winner in his debut.
The Hilltoppers also beat their in-state rival for a second straight year, though they didn't need overtime like they did last year in this win over the Southeastern Conference program. They outgained Kentucky 487–419 in total offense and held the ball for 35 minutes.
Brandon Doughty was 27 of 34 for 271 yards and a TD, numbers that would have been better except for at least four drops including a would-be touchdown.
The loss ruined Kentucky coach Mark Stoops' debut. coordinator Neal Brown's Air Raid offense struggled against a Western Kentucky defense returning seven starters from a bowl team that went 7–6 last season in the Sun Belt Conference.
Miami (OH)
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Maxwell Smith threw three long touchdown passes and Jalen Whitlow and Raymond Sanders each added scoring runs as Kentucky beat Miami (Ohio) 41–7 on Saturday.
The Wildcats made a winner of first-year coach Mark Stoops and Smith, who started for the first time since a season-ending ankle injury last September.
Most importantly for the Wildcats (1–1) was how Smith helped offensive coordinator Neal Brown's pass-oriented "Air Raid" philosophy take flight with TD passes of 48 yards to Jonathan George, 88 to Javess Blue and 56 to Jeff Badet. He completed 15 of 23 passes for 310 yards, 210 by halftime, as Kentucky outgained Miami 675–122 and allowed the RedHawks' only score on a fumbled punt return.
Louisville
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Heisman hopeful Teddy Bridgewater got off to a slow start as Kentucky's defense kept him and his receivers in check for much of the first half. He began 1 of 4 for 10 yards and had just 58 yards through one quarter, looking especially out of sync in throwing behind Robert Clark after the Cardinals recovered a Whitlow fumble at the Wildcats 27. Wallace salvaged the drive with a 36-yard field goal for a 3–0 lead. Even when Bridgewater seemed to get going in hitting Parker for 10 yards, the receiver fumbled and Kentucky's Ashley Lowery recovered, setting up Mansour's 37-yard field to tie the game.
