1967 Kentucky Wildcats football team

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1967 Kentucky Wildcats football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record2–8 (1–6 SEC)
Head coach
Home stadiumMcLean Stadium
Seasons
← 1966
1968 →
1967 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Tennessee $ 6 0 0 9 2 0
No. 8 Alabama 5 1 0 8 2 1
Florida 4 2 0 6 4 0
Ole Miss 4 2 1 6 4 1
Georgia 3 2 0 7 4 0
LSU 3 2 1 7 3 1
Auburn 3 3 0 6 4 0
Kentucky 1 6 0 2 8 0
Vanderbilt 0 5 0 2 7 1
Mississippi State 0 6 0 1 9 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1967 Kentucky Wildcats football team were an American football team that represented the University of Kentucky as a member of the Southeastern Conference during the 1967 NCAA University Division football season. In their sixth season under head coach Charlie Bradshaw, the team compiled a 2–8 record (1–6 in the SEC).[1]

On September 30, Kentucky running back Nathaniel "Nate" Northington became the first African-American scholarship athlete to play in an Southeastern Conference game in the Wildcats' home game against Ole Miss.[2][a] His debut was bittersweet as it came the day after the death of Greg Page, an African-American defensive end who had arrived at UK alongside Northington. Page died from complications of a paralyzing spinal cord injury suffered in an August 22 practice.[4] Northington only played for three minutes before suffering a separated shoulder, and the Wildcats would lose 26–13.[4]

Schedule[edit]

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 23at Indiana* L 10–1242,311[5]
September 30Ole MissL 13–2633,000[6]
October 7AuburnL 7–4824,962–28,000[7]
October 14VPI*
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
L 14–2423,000[8]
October 21at LSUL 7–3066,000[9]
October 28 No. 6 Georgia
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
L 7–3128,000[10]
November 4West Virginia*
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 22–730,000[11]
November 11at Vanderbilt W 12–718,942[12]
November 18at FloridaL 12–2850,833[13]
November 25 No. 2 Tennessee
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY (rivalry)
L 7–1731,500[14]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Northington was not the first African American to play at the varsity level in the SEC, although he was the first to do so on a scholarship. The conference's first African American varsity athlete was Stephen Martin, a baseball walk-on at Tulane, who made his varsity debut in 1966 (1965–66 school year), which was Tulane's last season as an SEC member.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "1967 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 18, 2021.
  2. ^ Kindred, Dave. "The Forgotten Trailblazer". Sports on Earth. Archived from the original on January 28, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2013.
  3. ^ "Tulane Mourns the Passing of Integration Pioneer Stephen Martin Sr" (Press release). Tulane Green Wave. May 16, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Story, Mark (September 22, 2016). "UK reveals sculpture honoring first black football players". Lexington Herald-Leader. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  5. ^ "Indiana rallies late to edge Kentucky, 12–10". The South Bend Tribune. September 24, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Ole Miss rips Kentucky". The Orlando Sentinel. October 1, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Auburn gets easy victory". Bristol Herald Courier. October 8, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Virginia Tech defeats Kentucky, 24 to 14". The Danville Register. October 15, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "LSU wakes up, whips Kentucky". The Tampa Tribune. October 22, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Sixth-ranked Georgia humbles Kentucky, 31–7". The Shreveport Times. October 29, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Lyons booms UK out of losing streak 22–7". The Courier-Journal. November 5, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Vandy bows to Kentucky". The Leaf-Chronicle. November 12, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Gators rout Kentucky, 28–12". The Paducah Sun Democrat. November 19, 1967. Retrieved October 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "5 thefts help Volunteers en route to 17–7 victory". The Greenville News. November 26, 1967. Retrieved May 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.