LEXINGTON — It’s time to put the wraps on another regular season of Kentucky football. It was an eventful 7-5 campaign, and we’ll review the good, the bad, and the ugly to bring you the 10 things we’ll remember most about while wondering where they’ll be headed for a bowl game.

1. The first time since …

At some SEC schools, back to back 7-5 seasons would get a coach fired. But in Lexington, it was the first time UK had reached those heights since 2006 and 2007. UK also posted a 4-4 SEC mark, making the first back-to-back seasons with four conference wins for the Wildcats since 1998 and 1999. It wasn’t always pretty, but those takeaways suggest a workmanlike 2017.

2. Benny Snell

The churning sophomore back became the first Wildcat to post consecutive 1,000-yard seasons on the ground. His 1,318 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns both led the SEC’s regular season stats. He is already Kentucky’s all-time rushing touchdowns leader, and with a healthy 2018, he could become the school’s all-time leading rusher.

3. A win over Tennessee

Sure, Tennessee was the worst team in the SEC. But Kentucky had posted a 1-31 mark against the Vols in their previous 32 meetings. Accordingly, the 29-26 win over UT on Oct. 28 was a highlight of the season. Despite a -4 turnover margin, Kentucky struck late, with Stephen Johnson diving on his injured shoulder for the game-winning score.

4. The uncovered receivers

On the other hand, Florida, in the midst of its worst season in decades, defeated Kentucky 28-27 in a game that will be remembered for Kentucky giving up two touchdowns by simply failing to cover open Florida receivers. Both plays came out of timeouts, and caused even optimistic Wildcat backers to wonder about Mark Stoops’ X-and-O ability.

5. Stephen Johnson

The JUCO quarterback who was recruited almost as an afterthought ended up again being pivotal to UK’s season. Johnson completed 61 percent of his passes, surpassing 2,000 yards in the air with 10 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He added another 358 rushing yards and three scores on the ground, and his leadership has drawn praise from teammates and opponents alike.

6. The defense gets drubbed

Stoops’ defense struggled, particularly against quality competition. In their toughest three matchups — Mississippi State, Georgia and Louisville — UK was outscored 131-37 and allowed 441, 504, and 562 yards. Kentucky forced only four punts in the three games combined. The longest tenured coach in the East will need to fix these issues in 2018.

7. Playing to the Last Play

Kentucky struggled to put teams away, at one point taking five games out of six down to the very last play from scrimmage. While three of the five ended up as wins, heartbreaking losses to Florida and Ole Miss kept Kentucky from a possible 9-3 campaign and their first winning season in the SEC since 1977.

8. MacAutomatic

Senior kicker Austin MacGinnis became the school’s all-time leading scorer during the season. MacGinnis, who has connected on 79 percent of his field goal tries, has not only made the most kicks in school history, he has connected on 10 field goals of 50 yards or longer, with six in the 2017 season.

9. The Blitz Brothers

Pass-rush specialists Josh Allen and Denzil Ware dubbed themselves “the Blitz Brothers” and lived up to that nickname. Allen finished with 7.0 QB sacks and Ware added 6.5. Both are juniors and Allen, who was unheralded and undersized when recruited from New Jersey, has been noted as a particularly likely NFL Draft early entry.

10. Beating the Gamecocks

In retrospect, Kentucky’s best win of the season was a Week 3 triumph at South Carolina. The 23-13 win was the Wildcats’ fourth in a row over Carolina, marking Kentucky’s first time amassing four wins in consecutive seasons against an SEC foe not named Vanderbilt since Bear Bryant owned Florida when he was in Lexington in the early 1950s.