With Kentucky making a rare post-season trip - only its 11th bowl game in school history, the football Cats managed to surprise Clemson 28-20 in the Music City Bowl in Nashville yesterday afternoon.
And the impressive bowl victory over a tough Clemson squad - this year's one-time BCS contender who defeated both teams (Wake Forest and Georgia Tech) that played in the ACC championship showdown - was made much sweeter because of two Bell Countians, Durrell White and Dallas Greer, wearing the Wildcat uniform.
For White and Greer, yesterday's exciting matchup was a near-perfect ending of their UK football careers as the Wildcats, finishing with a respectable 8-5 mark, came up with their second signature win of the season.
The other major win was against Georgia in a 24-20 decision.
Both of them had gone through some very difficult times with then-NCAA probation-ridden football program ever since they arrived at UK.
After seeing consecutive losing seasons, they finally got a taste of winning in college football this fall.
White, a senior defensive end who served as a game captain in the Music City Bowl, has played the best football of his career this season. The 6-3, 250-pounder was voted as the team's Most Improved Defensive Player by the coaches after the regular season.
White, who played three years at Bell County High School before transferring to Middlesboro High, has earned more starting assignments and played more games than any current Wildcat with 39 starts and 42 games.
A third-team freshman All-American selection by The Sporting News in 2003, White is majoring in agricultural communications.
While Greer, a product of Bell County High, is listed as a junior in eligibility, he is not expected to play again. The free safety will be graduating in May and plans to give up his senior year in order to begin a career in law enforcement.
Greer, who suffered a couple of injuries at UK that cost him to miss significant playing time, received SEC academic honors in 2004 and 2005.
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Looking ahead to next fall, UK should be at the full limit of 85 scholarship players for the first time in six years with several standouts, including All-SEC QB Andre Woodson, coming back. Kentucky could have as many as 17 starters returning.
As for the 2007 schedule, the Wildcats will have Eastern Kentucky, Temple, Louisville and Florida Atlantic serving as the non-league opponents in UK's first four games.
The UK-EKU season opener will be on Saturday, Sept. 1. The Colonels are coming off a 6-5 campaign.
A week later, UK will travel to Philadelphia to face Temple, which played as an independent this past season with a 1-11 mark under first-year mentor Al Golden. The Owls will join the Mid-American Conference as a full member next season.
Kentucky then will play Louisville at Commonwealth Stadium before hosting coach Howard Schnellenberger's Florida Atlantic squad on Sept. 22.
FAU, which is located in Boca Raton, finished this past season with a 5-7 mark, including a 21-19 victory over Louisiana Monroe.
As you will recall, Kentucky struggled with Louisiana Monroe before coming out on top with a narrow 42-40 win.
FAU dropped to Clemson (54-6) and South Carolina (46-6), both of which were UK's opponents in 2006.
As for the conference games, UK will have the same five Eastern Division opponents as usual along with Mississippi State, a permanent non-division opponent. The rotating non-division opponents will be Arkansas and LSU.
UK didn't play against Arkansas in 2006, but the Razorbacks are currently sporting a 10-3 record with a Jan. 1 Capital One Bowl date with Wisconsin.
Overall, the Wildcats will have seven home games, including the LSU, Florida and Mississippi State contests on consecutive October weekends.
Nevertheless, while its SEC portion of the 2007 schedule appears to be tougher with the addition of Arkansas (instead of Ole Miss), Kentucky's future looks much more promising than it has been in several years.
Perhaps, the 2006 Music City Bowl success will mark the beginning of UK's glorious run just like the good old days of legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant at Kentucky during the early 1950s.
Only time will tell.
Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of four books about UK basketball. He is currently a professor at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro and can be reached by e-mail at CatsUpClose@yahoo.com.
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