OXFORD, Miss. —Tobreak through and pick up its first AP top-six wins since 2007 and first under head coach Mark Stoops, Kentucky needed its 12th-year head coach to break character.
A generally conservative in-game decision maker, Stoops went off script Saturday as on fourth and opted to roll the dice on fourth and seven from his own 20-yard-line trailing No. 6 ranked Ole Miss 17-13 with just under four minutes left to play.
Instead of punting and looking to get a quick stop, Stoops opted to keep his offense on the field.
The result: A 63-yard throw and catch from Brock Vandagriff to Barion Brown which set up a game-winning touchdown two plays later as Gavin Wimsatt ran a from the five-yard line to the two and fumbled but right into the hands of tight end Josh Kattus giving UK the go-ahead score.
"I have to credit Stoops, that's not anything he's probably ever done in his life," a stunned Lane Kiffin said postgame. "He got out of his character with three and a half minutes left. I commend him for doing that. I'm sure the ESPN percentage had us 98% winning at that point. Good throw and good play by them."
Little did Kiffin know that a large reason Kentucky broke character was Stoops' confidence in beating his Rebel defense in a man-to-man situation.
"It was a tough call. Your analytics will tell you to punt it," Stoops said of the gutsy play-call. "I felt like they were going to be very aggressive, and we'd get a one-on-one. Barion made a great play. I felt like at that moment, where they were at, the way we were playing. In the red zone, we had been playing pretty good so if they get it there, there's really not going to be much time off the clock and we could try to hold them to three. I felt like we could get a one-on-one."
"They lined up. They played man and Barion is, obviously, one of the best years in the country, man to man. I just tried to give him a chance," Vandagriff added.
The fourth quarter play to Brown wasn't just a breakthrough moment for the program but for the junior wide receiver.
Brown, who set UK's freshmen single-season receiving yard and reception record in 2022, entered play having caught just 12 passes on the year, going for 90 yards.
Saturday, he was held in check for much of the afternoon and even came close to costing Kentucky the game.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Brown backed the Cats into a 3rd down and 20 after committing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after an incompletion on 2nd and 10.
When the team needed him most, Brown showed resolve.
"Just the resolve for him to come back and that just shows his maturity," Stoops said of Brown. "No, we don't want that (the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It's totally unacceptable. He knows that, but a year ago, maybe he wouldn't have bounced back like he did. When we people get on him, when people talk to him and coach him, and just he wanted to come back and make a play for his team, he did. Just proud of him for responding, not proud of the penalty."
The decision by Stoops to roll the dice came two weeks after national media and Big Blue Nation crushed him for punting down 13-12 to Georgia with just over three minutes left to play at his own 48-yard-line.
It also wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision.
Kentucky went for on fourth down three times Saturday, including the 63-yard conversion to Brown. It went 3-for-3.
"I had it in my mind right from the in the game plan. It wasn't just, wasn't just at the end," Stoops explained. With this style of offense (that Ole Miss plays), I knew I had to try to steal one rather than fake punt or something. I just felt like I had to steal a possession or two. We went for it early. I thought it was a little bit risky. We were back all the way on the 30, but it was only a half yard we got that. I think we got a fourth and one or two with the toss so it wasn't just up the middle to keep him a little bit honest, a little bit off balance.
"I told Bush [Hamdan] all week to have critical third downs, critical fourth downs and he did a really good job.
Not only did the decision lead to UK's first win in Oxford since 1978, highest ranked road win game since 1977 when it beat No. 7 Florida and its highest-ranked win of the Stoops' era, it led to a breakthrough for a program that has suffered several one-possession losses to ranked opponents in the Stoops era and held a record of 0-17 against top 6 ranked foes since its 2007.
"I know it's one game, but it's important because of the work that's been going in for a long time," Stoops said. "So proud for our fan base. They deserved a win like that. We've been close a lot. "We're very proud to get that victory."
