1983 Kentucky Wildcats football team

American college football season

1983 Kentucky Wildcats football
Hall of Fame Classic Bowl, L 20–16 vs. West Virginia
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	6–5–1 (2–4 SEC)
Head coach	Jerry Claiborne (1st season)
Home stadium	Commonwealth Stadium
Seasons← 1982 1984 →

1983 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Auburn $	6	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Georgia	5	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	1
No. 6 Florida	4	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	1
Tennessee	4	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Alabama	4	–	2	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	1
Mississippi State	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
LSU	0	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1983 Kentucky Wildcats football team represented the University of Kentucky as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1983 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Jerry Claiborne, the Wildcats scored 228 points while allowing 237 points.

After a 4–0 start, Kentucky finished the regular season 6–4–1 before playing in the 1983 Hall of Fame Classic and losing to No 18 West Virginia, 20–16. The improvement from 1982's 0–10–1 mark was, at the time, an NCAA record for most improvement in wins from one season to the next.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 3	Central Michigan*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	W 31–14	51,232
September 10	Kansas State*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	W 31–12	56,123
September 17	Indiana*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	W 24–13	56,825
September 24	Tulane*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	W 26–14	57,424
October 8	No. 7 Auburn	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	L 21–49	57,989
October 15	LSU	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	W 21–13	77,765
October 22	at No. 7 Georgia	Sanford Stadium Athens, GA	L 21–47	82,122
October 29	Cincinnati*	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	T 13–13	57,789
November 5	at Vanderbilt	Vanderbilt Stadium Nashville, TN (rivalry)	W 17–8	41,000
November 12	at No. 14 Florida	Florida Field Gainesville, FL (rivalry)	L 7–24	73,192
November 19	Tennessee	Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY (rivalry)	L 0–10	57,985
December 22	vs. No. 18 West Virginia*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Hall of Fame Classic)	L 20–16	42,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Team players in the 1984 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
John Grimsley	Linebacker	6	141	Houston Oilers

References

"1983 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
"Kentucky's fast finish flattens Central, 31–14". Lansing State Journal. September 4, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Wildcats fall to Kentucky". The Salina Journal. September 11, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"UK hands IU first loss". Sunday Herald-Times. September 18, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Wildcats top Tulane 26–14". The Advocate-Messenger. September 25, 1983. Retrieved October 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
"No. 7 Auburn runs over outmanned UK". The Park City Daily News. October 9, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Jenkins' tosses lead Kentucky past LSU". The Paducah Sun. October 16, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"UK has its moment, but day is Georgia's". The Cincinnati Enquirer. October 23, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Adams provides a spark as UK ties Cincinnati". The Courier-Journal. October 30, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Kentucky defeats Vanderbilt, 17–8". The Park City Daily News. November 6, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"Gators bounce back, rip 'Cats". The Pensacola News-Journal. November 13, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
"UT Vols take 10–0 win". Kingsport Times-News. November 20, 1983. Retrieved August 18, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
"Hostetler finally gets warmed up". Birmingham Post-Herald. December 23, 1983. Retrieved November 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
1997 Kentucky Wildcats Football Media Guide, p.168, 209
"1984 NFL Draft Listing | Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on May 27, 2009. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
1997 Kentucky Wildcats Football Media Guide, p.166

v t e Kentucky Wildcats football
Venues	Stoll Field/McLean Stadium (1916–1972) Kroger Field (1973–present) E.J. Nutter Training Facility (practice)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Centre Florida Indiana Louisville: Governor's Cup Tennessee Transylvania: Battle On Broadway Vanderbilt
Culture & lore	The Wildcat Scratch Blue "On, On, U of K" "Kentucky Fight" Marching band Bluegrass Miracle 2003 Arkansas game Big Blue Nation
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders NFL draftees Starting quarterbacks
Seasons	1881 1882–1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

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