The Mark Stoops era kicked off 10 years ago with a hot, miserable loss in Nashville to Western Kentucky. The Wildcats have come a long way since that humiliating defeat to Bobby Petrino.
Since suffering a loss in his first season-opener as the Kentucky head football coach, Mark Stoops has only lost twice in the first game of the season. In the COVID-plagued 2020 season, the opener went sideways when Chris Rodriguez was not awarded a touchdown after crossing into the end zone. The Wildcats went on to fall to Auburn 29-13.