7^37
Claiborne "Kept The Faith
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Win or lose against Wisconsin, this year's Kentucky Wildcat football team has had an outstanding campaign.
While finishing tied with Tennessee for fifth place in the Southeastern Conference, the Cats did things not too many people expected.
They won all four of their road games: (Indiana, Tulane, Mississippi State and arch-rival Tennessee). Beating Tennessee 17-12 in Knoxville may have been the biggest win for Coach Jerry Claiborne during his head coaching tenure at UK.
The emotional win has to be a momentum builder leading up to UK's game with the Wisconsin Badgers in the eighth annual Hall of Fame Bowl. But there was a time that Kentucky was at an emotional low during the 1984 season.
After winning their five five contests, the Cats lost big to LSU (36-10) and Georgia (37-7), both at Commonwealth Stadium. Claiborne, meanwhile, still had faith in his ballclub.
"I never lost confidence in our football team," said Claiborne in a recent interview. "We played two great teams. Georgia probably peaked in our game. We didn't help ourselves with all the mistakes."
In those two games, Kentucky committed 11 miscues (LSU 9, Georgia 2). UK turned things around in their last four ballgames. After beating North Texas State and Vanderbilt, the Wildcats took '84 SEC champ Florida to the wire before losing 25-17. UK then upped its record to 8-3 with the win against Tennessee.
"I guess we were the underdog in five of the last six games," noted Claiborne. "I was real pleased."
When speaking of Wisconsin, Claiborne sees a little bit of Gator resemblance in the Big 10 representative.
"They are very much alike," mentioned Claiborne. "They're high and strong. Offensively, they're very similar to Florida. Wisconsin is a real fine football team. They've beaten or tied four bowl teams in their last five
games. (Al) Toon and (Thad) Mc-Fadden are excellent receivers and they are big receivers."
Toon is 6-5, 195 pounds while McFadden is 6-2, 190 pounds.
"They are a well-balanced football team," Claiborne said.
While UK defensive players Brian Williams, Tony Mayes, and Russell Hairston will miss the bowl game because of violating team rules, Claiborne says there will be no special changes in the defensive scheme.
"You don't change anything if it has worked well, especially if you've used it for 11 games," said the coach. "Things have been going good. I have been very pleased with our preparation."
As far as fan preparation, both schools are expected to bring lots of support to Birmingham - which is not surprising to Claiborne.
"No, I'm not surprised," Claiborne said of the renewed UK fan support. "That's what fans are supposed to do. We have some great fans and I'm sure Wisconsin does too."
Wisconsin Knows It Must Stop Adams
COLLEGE FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME BOWL A Big Success Story For Birmingham
The College Football Hall of Fame Bowl originated in the mind of Cecil Stubbs, a true Optimist who dreamed of developing a "Collegiate Super Bowl" in Birmingham.
Stubbs started working on the bowl in 1967 with fellow Optimists. He was joined by Fred Sington; together, they developed a plan that was offered to and rejected by the NCAA.
The undaunted Optimists presented an altered plan each year, but were not successful until they were joined by the National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame of New York City in 1973 and in 1977, when the presentation included an elaborate film produced by Birmingham's Chamber of Commerce.
The reward of 10 years of persistent civic service by a few was a post-season classic that in seven years, with enthusiastic aid of the citizens of Greater Birmingham and steady counsel of the National Foundation, plus media recognition at both levels, has advanced to the top half of the 18 NCAA-approved bowls.
From the sixth annual game in 1982, the Air Force Academy and Vanderbilt University shared $909,072.74, the eighted largest amount paid by any bowl, and in ticket sales the sellout of 75,408 placed fourth. Only the Sugar, Gator and Rose bowls sold more.
From the 1977 sale of 43,996 tickets, $15,000 was given the National Foundation for its scholarship program with outstanding student-athletes; the program received $50,000 from last season's ticket sales.
In 1977, the Mizlou Television Network delivered the game live to an estimated 2,000,000 households. Last year, SuperStation VVTBS, with affiliates and cables, had participation of 5.25 million households.
If the eigth annual Hall of Fame Bowl game is a sellout at Legion Field Dec. 29, the Hall of Fame Bowl will pay Kentucky and Wisconsin universities in the neighborhood of $600,000, a total of approximately one-quarter million dollars.
Hall Of Fame
Bowl
Summary Sheet
College Football Hall of Fame Bowl I:
Thursday, December 22, 1977 Maryland 17Minnesota 7 Paid Attendance-43,996 Each Team received $175,808 National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame received-$15,000
College Football Hall of Fame Bowl II:
Wednesday, December 20, 1978 Texas AEtM 28-lowa State 12 Paid Attendance37J39
Each Team received $154,156 National Football Foundation Et Hall of Fame received  $15,500
College Football Hall of Fame Bowl III: Saturday, December 29, 1979 Missouri 24 South Carolina 14 Paid Attendance 65,041 (record third year
attendance) Each Team received-$264,698 National Football Foundation Et Hall of Fame
received -$27,500
College Football Hall of Fame Bowl IV:
Saturday, December 27, 1980 Arkansas 34 Tulane 15 Paid Attendance-40,079 Each Team received  $225,850 National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame received-$25,000
College Football Hall of Fame Bowl V:
Thursday, December 31, 1981 Mississippi State 10 Kansas 0 Paid Attendance-53,918 Each Team received  $400,000 National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame received-$25,000
College Football Hall of Fame Bowl VI:
Friday, December 31, 1982 Air Force 36-Vanderbilt 28 Paid Attendance -75,408 Each Team received $454,536.37 National Football Foundation Et Hall of Fame received-$50,000
College Football Hall of Fame Bowl VIII:
Saturday, December 22, 1983 West Virginia 20-Kentucky 16 Paid Attendance-55,000 Each Team received-$450,000 National Football Foundation & Hall of Fame received - $50,000