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Published Sep 15, 2019
BY THE NUMBERS: UK vs. Florida
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Jeff Drummond  •  CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor
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@JDrumUK

Kentucky suffered a bitter loss to Florida in the SEC opener on Saturday night at Kroger Field, allowing an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead slip away in a 29-21 comeback victory for the Gators. In this Cats Illustrated "By The Numbers" feature, we break down some of the key digits from the night...

1st - Career start at UK for junior quarterback Sawyer Smith, a grad transfer from Troy, who passed for 267 yards and two touchdowns.

1st - Collegiate touchdown catch for UK redshirt freshman tight end Keaton Upshaw, a 13-yard score in the third quarter.

1.9 - Florida's yards per carry on first-down rushing attempts.

2-for-4 - Redshirt freshman kicker Chance Poore has hit just 50% of his field goals to open the season. He missed a 35-yarder against Florida, dropping to 4-for-8 for his career.

9 - Consecutive pass completions to start the game by UK's Sawyer Smith.

10 - Yards per passing attempt surrendered by the UK defense. The Gators finished with 300 yards through the air on 30 passes.

16 - Rushing attempts a new career high for redshirt freshman Kavosiey Smoke. He led the Cats with 81 yards against the Gators.

17th - Player (Lynn Bowden) to pass the 100 receptions mark in his UK career. Bowden had seven catches for 70 yards to give him 104 early in his junior season.

19 - Unanswered points by Florida in the fourth quarter. Opponents had scored only 14 points in the final period against UK this season.

79 - Yards in penalties on nine flags against the Cats, including two ejections (Yusef Corker and TJ Carter) on targeting fouls.

5 for 50 - Career highs for receptions and yards for UK junior tight end Justin Rigg.

52-18 - Florida's lead in the all-time series against UK.

1977 - The last time the Cats defeated the Gators in back to back seasons.

1999 - The last time UK had a player (James Whalen) catch at least six passes in three games to open the season. Lynn Bowden matched him on Saturday.

2000 - The last season a UK quarterback (Jared Lorenzen) threw at least two touchdown passes and rushed for another score in his first start. Sawyer Smith joined him on Saturday.

34:55-25:05 - Kentucky dominated the time of possession but it did not lead to a W on this occasion.

63,076 - Attendance at Kroger Field, the fifth-largest crowd since stadium renovation in 2015.

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