CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The 2019 season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Kentucky football.
Instead of taking a major step back from the third 10-win season in program history following the loss of all-time leading rusher Benny Snell, National Defensive Player of the Year Josh Allen and the team's top six defensive backs, the Wildcats won eight games for just the fourth time since 1984.
Now UK must replace program legend Lynn Bowden and a handful of key seniors who played their final game in the Belk Bowl, but with so many young players gaining valuable experience in 2019, there is plenty of talent returning that will soon be joined by the highest-ranked recruiting class of the Stoops era.