What is Lynn Bowden’s best memory from his Kentucky career

Lynn Bowden had fun interacting with players at the Somerset Youth Football League camp but he was all business when UK beat Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl. (Charlie Crawford Photo)

He was an All-American and the Paul Hornung Award winner as the nation’s most versatile player. He was a hero to Kentucky fans for making the move from receiver to quarterback and igniting an offense that ran almost at will to where he became a record-setting SEC running quarterback. But the one memory that stands out above everything else to Lynn Bowden is UK’s 37-30 win over Virginia Tech in the Belk Bowl in his final game with the Wildcats.

Bowden ran 34 times for 233 yards and two touchdowns against a Virginia Tech defense stacked to stop him and completed six of 12 passes for 73 yards and the winning touchdown to Josh Ali, who had four catches for 52 yards. He was named Belk Bowl MVP in what had to be one of the easiest choices ever for media members at the game.

Bowden marched the Wildcats 85 yards in 18 plays in a drive that took over eight minutes and ended with his 13-yard TD pass to Ali with 15 seconds left to give Cats a 31-30 lead. Twice UK had to convert fourth-down plays on the drive. Jordan Wright returned a Virginia Tech fumble for a score on the final play to make the final margin 37-30.

“The Belk Bowl has to be my best memory. That was my favorite game,” Bowden said last week when he was at the Somerset Youth Football League camp. “Just a lot of things went on. I can’t point to just one thing because there were a lot of things.”

It started during an outing for players at Charlotte Motor Speedway where the Cats said Tech played had “profane insults” for them.

Bowden would not answer pre-game questions about the Hokies or compare the SEC and ACC because he said there was no comparison, an answer Tech players did not like.

Tempers flared before the game and Bowden was involved in the pregame scuffle. Some reports had Bowden landing a punch while others reported a punch being thrown at Bowden. Officials were not on the field at the time and despite protests from Virginia Tech, Bowden was allowed to play.

“The guys at V Tech, they brought a lot of energy … much more energy and they were out for blood from some prior stuff that happened,” Bowden said. “Just the feeling (of winning) was great. It was my last game in blue and we went out with a bang.”