Mark Stoops was staring down the barrel of his 13-year career as the head coach at Kentucky coming to an end, winless in the SEC coming off three-touchdown losses in three of four with the outlier being a heartbreaker against Texas that saw the Wildcats win every category but the one that matters. A loss on the Plains against an Auburn program looking for any reason to fire its coach would almost certainly seal his fate.
Then the Cats pulled off a 10-3 stunner as a double-digit underdog, Stoops emotional on the field talking with SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang after the final whistle.