Seemingly poised to put another bowl game championship trophy in the Joe Craft Football Training Center, Kentucky saw the prize slip away in the fourth quarter of Friday's Gator Bowl in Jacksonville.
The Wildcats turned the ball over four times in the final stanza and surrendered 28 late points as Clemson rallied from behind to post a 38-35 victory at EverBank Stadium.
Trailing 35-30 with 2:34 remaining, the Tigers drove 68 yards for the go-ahead score. Clemson converted on 3rd-and-10, 3rd-and-18, and 4th-and-2 to keep the drive going, taking the lead on a 3-yard touchdown run by Phil Mafah with 17 seconds to go.
Kentucky had one final chance to get into field goal range and attempt to send the game into overtime, but Devin Leary's pass was picked off by Clemson's Shelton Lewis to seal the victory.
"A very difficult loss, (but a) terrific football game," Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said. "There were so many moments in that game where I'm so proud of our football team and the way we responded, the way we fought back. We faced a lot of adversity and overcame it. Mistakes and turnovers, penalties, there was a lot of things that you're not very proud of.
"We could have ended (the season) with a great win, and it was a very difficult loss."
Said Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney: "It's one of those games nobody really deserves to lose. Just a lot of fight and heart on both sides. Just an awesome job by Coach Stoops, and those kids battling. We just found a way to make one more play."
The Wildcats' fourth-quarter miscues sealed their fate. A Leary interception on a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage by Barrett Carter set up a 28-yard field goal by Jonathan Weitz to pull Clemson within 21-19 with 7:00 remaining.
On UK's next play from scrimmage, Clemson defensive back Khalil Barnes stripped Barion Brown of the ball, and Carter fell on it for a recovery. Mafah scored from 29 yards out on the ensuing play to give the Tigers a 27-21 lead.
Kentucky reclaimed the lead, 28-27, on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Leary to Brown, but Clemson used a 60-yard kickoff return by Will Shipley to set up a 52-yard field goal by Weitz. The kick hit the crossbar but bounced in the air and had a fortuitous spin for the Tigers to make it 30-28 with 4:20 to play.
Back came the Cats on a 72-yard pass from Leary to tight end Jordan Dingle, setting up a go-ahead, 1-yard touchdown run by Ray Davis to make it 35-30 with 2:39 remaining.
That set up the final drive, which saw Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik complete seven of his eight pass attempts against a UK defense that chose to stop bringing pressure despite recording eight sacks on the day and played a soft-zone defense hoping to prevent the go-ahead score.
Clemson (9-4) closed the season with five straight wins. Kentucky (7-6) missed an opportunity to win a bowl game for the fourth time in the last five years, and this time against a name-brand opponent with national championship pedigree.
Mafah recorded a Gator Bowl-record four touchdown runs and finished with 71 yards on 11 carries.
The loss overshadowed an MVP performance by Kentucky receiver Barion Brown, who caught three passes for 100 yards and a touchdown, returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and had a 22-yard touchdown run.
Leary also had a big game for UK despite the late turnovers, completing 16 of his 28 passing attempts for 306 yards and two touchdowns.
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In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
Trailing by five points with 50 seconds remaining and facing a 3rd-and-18 play at the 50-yard line, Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik a clean pocket from which to throw against Kentucky's three-man rush and found an open hole in the Cats' soft-zone defense. He connected with receiver Troy Stellato for 16 yards, making the fourth-down conversion easier, and the Tigers picked up five yards on a Phil Mafah run. From there, completions of 11 and 15 yards set up Mafah's game-winning touchdown run with 17 seconds remaining.
GAME BALL:
Barion Brown, Kentucky -- The sophomore receiver/return specialist became only the second player in program history to record a rushing, receiving, and return touchdown in the same game, joining Don “Dopey” Phelps (Michigan State, 1946). He finished with 226 all-purpose yards.
BY THE NUMBERS:
3 - Kickoff returns in a season by Barion Brown set a new Kentucky record and tied the SEC record (Willie Gault, Tennessee 1980; Brandon Boykin, Georgia 2009; Warren Norman, Vanderbilt 2009; Evan Berry, Tennessee 2015).
4-4 - Mark Stoops' record in bowl games at UK.
5 - Touchdowns in a bowl game tied the UK school record.
8-6 - Kentucky leads the all-time series with Clemson, but the Tigers own a 3-1 advantage in bowl games.
8 & 13 - The Wildcats' defense set season-highs for sacks and tackles for loss.
QUOTABLE:
"We will second-guess ourselves on that one." -- UK head coach Mark Stoops on the Wildcats rushing only three defenders and dropping into a soft-zone coverage on Clemson's game-winning drive.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky goes into the offseason looking to finalize its 2024 roster with some recruiting additions in February prior to spring practice. Once again, the Wildcats will go into the spring with a high-profile transfer portal quarterback in the form of Brock Vandagriff, who spent the last three years with the Georgia Bulldogs.
