Matt Ruffolo Kicks Past Frustrating Season With Historic Governor's Cup Performance
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The 2022 season hasn't been a kind one to senior kicker Matt Ruffolo...until the Governor's Cup rolled around.
In an MVP worthy performance, Ruffolo came through with a career-high four made field goals in Kentucky's 26-13 win over No. 25 Louisville on Saturday, propelling the Wildcats to lift the Governor's Cup trophy for the fourth year in a row.
His effort tied the rivalry record for most field attempts and makes in series history (since 1994). As a result, he was named the 2022 Governor’s Cup’s Howard Schnellenberger Award as Most Valuable Player of the winning team, voted on by Kentucky and Louisville media members. He is the first kicker to be named MVP since the recognition began in 2010.
“They told me I was the first kicker to win that award," Ruffolo said post-game. "It just means a lot as the field goal unit with my long snapper Cade McGraw and my holder Chance Poore and all the line to end on that performance... they gave it to me, but it is really for all of us.”
The perfect showing ends the regular season on a positive note for Ruffolo, following what's been a tumultuous special teams effort for the previous 11 games this season.
Entering the game, the Centerville, Ohio native was 12-20 on the season in field goal attempts to go along with a bevy of missed and blocked extra points. Saturday was only the fourth game all season in which he did not miss a field goal.
“It feels good because to be completely honest it has not been the best year but to end on that note going 4/4 and perfect on extra points it feels really good, and it always feels really good against (Louisville),” he said.
The senior did not miss a kick against non-conference opponents this season, making all nine field goals attempted.
"How about that? It was great to see Ruff(olo) finish that way, and the holders and the snappers, the whole crew. Special teams really responded," head coach Mark Stoops said after the win.
Ruffolo's struggles were highlighted amidst the SEC stretch, as across five consecutive games against conference foes, he missed five of seven attempts, most of which weren't close to splitting the uprights.
The final three games of the regular season not only gave Ruffolo more chances to succeed, but yielded positive results, as he drilled seven of his last nine attempts.
“Emotionally, I mean, we started off really strong but in the middle of the season, to be completely honest, it was not my best year and as a unit, it was not our best year, but we stuck together, and we stuck together until the end," Ruffolo said. "Today it really showed our mental toughness by sticking together.”
Stoops was asked time and time again about the special teams woes across the season. While he knew the results were far from meeting expectations, his confidence never wavered in the longtime kicker nor the special teams operation in general.
Taking the flak throughout the campaign paid off in a big way on Saturday night.
"I understand. Things happen. I mean, to act like you're not immune to anything or any pressure or when things go wrong, that's human nature. I had confidence in him, the team did, and I treated him like we always did," Stoops said. "He missed a kick or two. It's a snap, it's a hold, it's laces. There is a lot of things that go into it. As I mentioned many times throughout the year, was I concerned? Yeah, I was concerned, and we worked on it. But we had to stay the course and go with the best option we had, and he kicked it really solid tonight."
Ruffolo now has 245 points in his career and moving him into fifth place on the UK career scoring list. He needs one more point to tie for fourth.
Game recap of Kentucky's win over Louisville can be found here.
Watch: Stoops, Levis and more talk Governor's Cup win over Cardinals
Game Notes from the victory can be found here.
