3 Second Straight Bowl
Dalton Hilliard's 14-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter put the Bengal Tigers further ahead. Juan Betanzos' PAT pushed the lead to 15-3 with 7:59 left in the quarter.
A couple of Wildcat turnovers led to two LSU touchdowns 2:03 later.
Ricky Chatman's interception contributed to their third touchdown. Two plays later Hilliard scored from the one to widen the lead 22-3.
Tailback Logan then fumbled on Kentucky's next play from the line of scrimmage as LSU recovered on the Wildcat 14.
It took only one play for the SEC leaders to score. Hilliard dashed 14 yards untouched to paydirt for six points. Betanzos point-after kick put the game out of reach for Claiborne's Cats, 29-3.
Adams scored from the one late in the contest for UK's only touchdown. It was Adams' 10th rushing touchdown of the season.
For the game Adams was held to 76 yards in 23 carries.
October 27 -- Georgia at Kentucky (Commonwealth Stadium) -- No. 12 (AP) Georgia handed the Wildcats their second straight home-loss by winning 37-7. The Bulldogs played a near perfect football game. Their only misque was a meaningless fumble alte in the fourth quarter.
"We just got an old country fashion lickin," said Claiborne in his postgame interview. "Georgia is still the same old Georgia. Their backs ran hard, their linemen fired out well, and their defense swarmed us.
"Every time we got a couple of first downs together we'd either get a penalty or they would come up with a big play and this is why they're where they are."
All-SEC scoring leader Kevin Butler, who was not supposed to play because of a recent leg injury, booted the Dogs in the lead with a 34-yard field goal with 3:29 left in the first quarter.
Kentucky, though was giving the Bulldogs all they could handle until . . . until fate did in the home team.
On first and 10 from the Wildcat 16 freshman signal caller David Dukes lost control of the pigskin on a play-action call to the right side. Tight end Scott Williams picked up the ball and ran headed toward the left corner for the score. That play probably took the air out of the Kentucky attack.
"That hurt our defense," noted Calhoun. "We had them stopped there and (they'd) probably have to settle for a field goal. Instead they get the touchdown, (which) really drained our defense. I didn't think we were hurt too bad at that point. We were still fighting hard and going for the victory. We just couldn't get anything going."
Calhoun's observation of the Georgia game was correct -- they just couldn't get anything going.
UK was outscored in the second half 27-7 as the Cats' record fell to 5-2. Offensively Kentucky was simply stymied. Georgia held UK's offense to only 182 yards, including only 10 yards on the ground.
November 3 -- North Texas State at Kentucky (Commonwealth Stadium) --The Wildcats were playing their third straight home game in as many weeks.
Division I-AA team NTSU was the opponent and came in as a big underdog.
Kentucky defeated the Mean Green 31-7 assuring it a winning season for the '84 campaign. The Wildcats scored 31 unanswered points as they blitzed the Eagles 31-7. The win gave Claiborne his 150th coaching victory.
Playing before an estimated crowd of 54,328 the Eagles reached paydirt first with an impressive opening 77-yard drive.
On their second play from scrimmage NTSU quarterback Scott Toman avoided a Wildcat rush and connected with Matt Barber in UK territory for 41 yards. Seven plays later running back Monty Moon scored from five yards out to give the visitors the early lead.
On the ensuing kickoff Adams followed his teammates' blocking for
40 yards to the Wildcat 47. A few plays later Adams took the ball on a left tackle play and scampered 24 yards to the NTSU 15. Two plays later it was the Lexington Lafayette product who scored from the five. Joe Worley's boot made the score: Kentucky 7, NTSU 7 with 9:00 remaining in the first quarter.
Ransdell's eight-yard TD pass to Phillips gave the Cats the lead for good. Earlier, Phillips caught a 23-yard pass, which put the ball at the Eagles' eight, to set up the go-ahead score as the horn sounded in the first quarter.
Junior defensive tackle Jon Dumb-auld made two sensational plays in the second quarter. Twice Dumbauld held Moon to no gain. The second time was
on fourth down and one at the UK 33.
Kentucky then scored 17 second-half points to put the game out of reach while improving its bowl chances.
Under rainy and cold playing conditions Adams had an excellent afternoon. He rushed for 144 yards and one touchdown. Ransdell threw for 196 yards (14-24) and three touchdowns. His 63-yard TD pass to Logan in the fourth quarter ended UK's scoring for the day.
November 10 -- Vanderbilt at Kentucky (Commonwealth Stadium) --UK's 27-18 victory probably assured it a second straight postseason bowl appearance. To win, Claiborne's team had to overcome a steady rain, strong winds -- and the splendid throwing arm of Vandy quarterback Kurt Page.
Page overcame an early 7-0 Kentucky lead with two long pass plays
that resulted in scores. A 43-yard scoring strike from Page to Joe Kelly tied the score late in the first quarter. Then, with the wind at Page's back in the second quarter, he uncorked a pass from the Vandy 25 to Chuck Scott, who caught the ball on the 50. Scott then neatly eluded and outran UK's Cam Jacobs for a 75-yard scoring play that, coupled with a missed extra point, lifted Vandy to a 13-7 lead.
"When you get into man-to-man (defense) and give Page long enough to throw the ball, they've got some receivers that can beat you," Claiborne said. "With the exception of those two big plays, our defense played pretty darn good."
So did the UK offense. After Adams and Higgs moved UK close, fullback
Chris Derry caught a Ransdell pass one-handed and scored 18 yards out to help move UK to a 14-13 halftime lead.
That set matters up for Higgs, the mercurial freshman from Owensboro. On the first scrimmage play of the second half, Higgs bounced off a tackier after advancing 10 yards, then turned on the jets and veered past Lexington native Kermit Sykes to score on an electrifying 84-yard run to boost UK to a 21-13 lead.
Higgs gained 138 yards in 20 carries. That was more work than Higgs had been used to previously. "We had planned to use him more at fullback to throw the ball to him, but he was having some problems with the passing game," Claiborne said of Higgs. "So we put him in there to run the football."
That idea reeked of genius against Vandy.
Two second-half field goals by Worley and an inspired UK defense preserved the win.
Left guard David Thompson stopped Vandy's Everett Crawford for a loss on a third-and-one play in the final quarter, and Dumbauld forced Page to throw an errant pass on a fourth-down play later. Then, in the final minute of play, UK stopped Vandy cold on the UK two-yard line to thwart the final threat of George Maclntyre's team.
November 17 - Florida at Kentucky (Commonwealth Stadium) -- This game will long be remembered by UK fans both for the good and bad news that resulted from it.
The good news: The contest arguably produced UK's gutsiest defensive showing in many years. Such was especially true in the first half, when Kentucky bent often but refused to break, limiting fifth-ranked Florida to four field goals.
The bad news: The fact that a determined second-half rally by the Wildcats fell short when, with two minutes to play and Kentucky trailing 25-17, an apparent touchdown pass from Ransdell to Phillips was nullified by official Ronnie Baynes. Baynes ruled that split end Eric Pitts had not set himself on the line of scrimmage, thereby producing an illegal offensive formation. That score, plus a possible two-point conversion play, would have tied the game.
Claiborne said his team had used the same formation early in the third quarter, when Ransdell and Phillips hooked up on a seven-yard scoring pass that helped pull Kentucky to within 12-10.
Referring to the voided scoring play, Claiborne said, "Pitts thought he was on the line of scrimmage. You've got to be way off (the line) to call something like that at the end of the game. We had an unbalanced line. It was the same play we scored on before. We were legal the first time, and we weren't the second time."
The win was significant for Florida in that it apparently earned the Gators their first-ever Southeastern Conference football title. But because of various infractions of NCAA rules, the SEC barred Florida from representing the league in the Sugar Bowl Jan. 1. Whether or not Florida will get to keep the   league   title   has   yet   to be
determined.
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It Was A Long Day For NTSU
Adams After TD        Coach Carried Away