{"id":12251,"date":"2017-12-30T13:38:50","date_gmt":"2017-12-30T18:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=12251"},"modified":"2025-09-13T15:17:55","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T19:17:55","slug":"kentucky-suffers-heartbreak-in-music-city-bowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2017\/12\/30\/kentucky-suffers-heartbreak-in-music-city-bowl\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Suffers Heartbreak In The Music City Bowl"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">Kentucky Suffers Heartbreak In The Music City Bowl<\/h4>\n<p>\u201cThis is the strangest game I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d That was the comment of UK radio analyst <strong>Jeff<\/strong> <strong>Piecoro<\/strong> during the game. He was 100 percent correct. For a school who has a history of weird games this ranks right near the top. From injuries to ejections to head scratching calls this had it all. Let\u2019s take a look at how Kentucky Suffers Heartbreak In The Music City Bowl.<\/p>\n<h4>Injuries and Questionable Calls<\/h4>\n<p>Early in the first quarter Northwestern quarterback <strong>Clayton Thorson<\/strong> was injured after being tackled on a trick play. He was taken off the field on a cart with a leg injury.<\/p>\n<p>With Thorson out the Cats relied on <strong>Justin Jackson<\/strong> even more. The senior responded with 155 yards and two touchdowns. He was named MVP of the <strong>Music City Bowl<\/strong>. Jackson moved into the Top 10 all-time in rushing yards in college football history.<\/p>\n<p>For the game Northwestern outrushed Kentucky 333-65. During the last three games of the season the Wildcat defense gave up over 1,000 yards on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>Mark Stoops\u2019 club jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on a touchdown run by <strong>Benny Snell.<\/strong> However Snell\u2019s day\u00a0was a short one as he was ejected after a bizarre play.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is why Benny Snell was ejected. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QVFczR8anz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/QVFczR8anz<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TomFornelli\/status\/946874313319309312?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Snell finished the game with only 15 yards on six carries and a score. To his credit official <strong>Chris Coyte<\/strong> released a statement after the game.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Music City Bowl referee Chris Coyte on Benny Snell ejection: &quot;The player got up and grabbed my arms and pushed them away and contacted me. That\u2019s a foul.&quot;<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adam Sparks (@AdamSparks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AdamSparks\/status\/946920265765748738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 30, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>This response even got reaction from national media who didn&#8217;t exactly buy Coyte&#8217;s explanation.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Referee should be banned. Lying, slandering player. And a moron who doesn\u2019t realize there\u2019s video. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eYlMF31cmH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/eYlMF31cmH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KeithOlbermann\/status\/946923967868293121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 30, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>For a fanbase still\u00a0angry over the <strong>John Higgins<\/strong> fiasco from the NCAA Elite Eight game against <strong>North Carolina<\/strong> this one may have been even worse. It appears to be another instance of an official wanting to make a spotlight for themselves. Honestly the players, fans and ESPN all deserved better than this.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/benny_snell\/status\/946919836529102848<\/p>\n<p>Snell&#8217;s ejection seemed to totally rattle Kentucky and Northwestern seized the momentum. In rolling off 17 unanswered points they took a 17-7 lead to the half.<\/p>\n<p>Just before the half another questionable call went against Kentucky. Johnson was hit late and reinjured his shoulder.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stephen Johnson injures his right shoulder on this hit, that was not called for a late hit (pretty egregious takedown)<\/p>\n<p>And Kentucky got an unsportsmanlike for complaining, apparently. This is awful. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/vMaVWtAC9E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/vMaVWtAC9E<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Yahoo Sports College Football (@YahooSportsCFB) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/YahooSportsCFB\/status\/946880865472303114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Not only was Northwestern not penalized but Stoops got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for arguing. That penalty took them out if <strong>Austin MacGinnis\u2019<\/strong> field goal range. The three points proved to be costly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Furious Second Half Rally<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Johnson returned in the second half and immediately led the Cats to a touchdown taking it in himself. However Johnson then threw a pick six to <strong>Kyle Quiero <\/strong>putting Northwestern\u00a0 up 24-14.<\/p>\n<p>MacGinnis\u2019 school record 22nd field goal on the season made it 24-17. On the next possession <strong>Pat\u00a0Fitzgerald<\/strong> went for it on a fourth and one on their own 40. UK held getting the ball back with excellent field position with about two minutes to go.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson ran for his second touchdown to make it a one point game. Rather than play for overtime Stoops went for it. Unfortunately it was not to be as Johnson\u2019s pass to <strong>Tavin<\/strong> <strong>Richardson<\/strong> fell incomplete.<\/p>\n<p>Northwestern recovered an odd onside kick and that was the ballgame. The Big 10 Wildcats finish 10-3 on the year. It is their second straight 10 win campaign. They also won back to back bowl games for the first time in school history.<\/p>\n<h4>Looking Ahead To 2018<\/h4>\n<p>Thorson announced he is returning for his senior season rather than declare for the NFL Draft. However the severity of his leg injury could have an affect on the beginning of next season.<\/p>\n<p>In addition Northwestern has to replace Jackson. But they seem to be in good hands with <strong>Jeremy Larkin<\/strong> who added 112 yards in the bowl game.<\/p>\n<p>On the other sideline Kentucky ends their season at 7-6 for a second straight year and second straight bowl loss. The program is light years ahead of where it was when Stoops took over. However the Cats are still looking for that breakthrough bowl win.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately the 2017 campaign goes down as one of missed opportunities. This was the third last minute loss leaving the big Blue Nation wondering what might have been.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s going to be an interesting off season for Kentucky. Item number one is finding Johnson\u2019s replacement. In addition they have to replace leading receiver <strong>Garrett Johnson<\/strong>. They also have to replace the school\u2019s all-time leading scorer in MacGinnis.<\/p>\n<p>Painful as it was thank you for reliving\u00a0how Kentucky Suffers Heartbreak In The Music City Bowl. As a reminder <strong>Last Word On College Football<\/strong> has you covered for every bowl game leading up to the National Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kentucky Suffers Heartbreak In The Music City Bowl \u201cThis is the strangest game I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d That was the comment of UK radio analyst Jeff Piecoro during the game. He was 100 percent correct. For a school who has a history of weird games this ranks right near the top. From injuries to ejections to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":877,"featured_media":12314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,35579,3],"tags":[184,2882,1026,21,1141,126,825,544],"class_list":["post-12251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-kentucky-wildcats","category-sec","tag-cfb","tag-chris-coyte","tag-justin-jackson","tag-kentucky-wildcats","tag-music-city-bowl","tag-ncaa","tag-northwestern-wildcats","tag-stephen-johnson"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/877"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12251"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78739,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12251\/revisions\/78739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}