1946 Kentucky Wildcats football
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record7–3 (2–3 SEC)
Head coach
CaptainPhil Cutchin
Home stadiumMcLean Stadium
Seasons
← 1945
1947 →
1946 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 3 Georgia + 5 – 0 – 0 11 – 0 – 0
No. 7 Tennessee + 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
No. 8 LSU 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 1
No. 11 Georgia Tech 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0
Mississippi State 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
Alabama 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 4 – 0
Vanderbilt 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Kentucky 2 – 3 – 0 7 – 3 – 0
Tulane 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 7 – 0
Auburn 1 – 5 – 0 4 – 6 – 0
Ole Miss 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 7 – 0
Florida 0 – 5 – 0 0 – 9 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1946 Kentucky Wildcats football team was an American football team that represented the University of Kentucky in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1946 college football season. In their first season under head coach Bear Bryant, the Wildcats compiled a 7–3 record (2–3 against SEC opponents) and outscored opponents by a total of 233 to 90.[1]

Bryant was hired as Kentucky's head football coach in January 1946. He had been the head coach at Maryland in 1945. At age 32, he was one of the youngest head coaches at a major university.[2] Bryant took over a program that had compiled losing records of 2–8 in 1945, 3–6 in 1944, and 3–6–1 in 1942 – while winning only one game against an SEC opponent during the three years. Bryant promptly turned the program around, eventually leading the Wildcats to SEC and Sugar Bowl championships in 1950.

Two Kentucky players received honors from the Associated Press (AP) or United Press (UP) on the 1946 All-SEC football team: Wallace Jones at end (AP-1, UP-3); and Dan Phelps at halfback (UP-2).[3][4]

Kentucky was ranked at No. 14 in the final Litkenhous Difference by Score System rankings for 1946.[5]

The team played its home games at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky.

Schedule

DateOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 21Ole Miss
W 20–719,600[6]
September 28at Cincinnati*
W 26–727,000[7]
October 5Xavier*
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 70–020,200[8]
October 11at No. 8 GeorgiaNo. 19
L 13–2825,000[9]
October 19Vanderbiltdagger
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY (rivalry)
W 10–721,000[10]
October 26at No. 11 Alabama
L 7–2122,500[11]
November 2Michigan State*
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 39–1419,700[12]
November 9at Marquette*
W 35–012,000[13]
November 16West Virginia*
  • McLean Stadium
  • Lexington, KY
W 13–020,000[14]
November 23at No. 7 Tennessee
L 0–735,000[15]
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

[16]

Rankings

See also: 1946 NCAA football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below
Week
Poll12345678Final
AP19т————————

1947 NFL draft

Main article: 1947 NFL Draft

The 1947 NFL Draft was held on December 16, 1946. The following Wildcats were selected.[17]

Round Pick Player Position NFL Club
3 18 Ermal Allen Quarterback Chicago Cardinals
27 151 Phil Cutchin Back Philadelphia Eagles

References

  1. ^ "1946 Kentucky Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  2. ^ Laurence Shrophire (January 15, 1946). "Bryan To Have Four Full-Time Assistants In Effort To Lift U. K. Football Fortunes". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Eight Teams Place Men On AP All-Southeastern Conference Eleven". Freeport Journal-Standard. November 30, 1946. p. 8. Retrieved June 6, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  4. ^ William Tucker (November 21, 1946). "Travis Tidwell, Auburn Back, On 2nd Team". The Anniston Star. p. 16. Retrieved May 30, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  5. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 15, 1946). "Rice Rated Fifth Best, Tennessee 12th by Lit". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. p. B4 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Babe Kimbrough (September 22, 1946). "Wildcats Conquer Ole Miss In Opener, 20 To 6: Passing Attack Clicks For Bryant's Charges As 19,600 See Game". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Dick Forbes (September 29, 1946). "UC Bearcats Defeated By Kentucky, 26-7: Visitors Far Too Classy; Wildcats Break Ice In Second Quarter". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ October 9, 1946. "Kentucky Wildcats Overpower Xavier Musketeers, 70-0, For Third Win In Row". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.((cite news)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Roy Steinfort (October 12, 1946). "Georgia Topples Kentucky 28-13: Cats Score 1st But Bulldogs Tally 7 In Each Quarter". The Courier-Journal. p. Sports 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Babe Kimbrough (October 20, 1946). "Wildcats Hand Vanderbilt First Setback, 10-7". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Bassett, Norman (October 27, 1946). "Gilmer leads Alabama to 21–7 win over Cats". The Tuscaloosa News. p. 7. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  12. ^ George S. Alderton (October 27, 1946). "Cincinnati Rally Defeats State, 18 to 7: 22,524 See State Fall To Bearcats; Cincinnati Scores 2 Touchdowns in Last 10 Minutes to Win". Lansing State Journal. pp. 25–25 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Earl Ruby (November 10, 1946). "Kentucky Calls Foe's Hand, Then Whacks It 35-7: Marquette Starts 12 Men But Play of Cats Shows Maybe It Wasn't Error". The Courier-Journal. p. IV-1 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Kyle Vance (November 17, 1946). "Kentucky Conquers West Virginia 13 To 0 Before 20,000: Phelps Chalks Up Both Touchdowns for Wildcats". The Owensboro, Ky., Messenger. p. 7 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Grid victory to Tennessee". The Baltimore Sun. November 24, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "1946 Kentucky Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  17. ^ "1947 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.


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