When September rolls around, Bill Ransdell knows the calls will come. With each passing fall, more and more people call to ask Ransdell about a particular football game back in November 1986. They ask about the day that Bill Ransdell became the last University of Kentucky quarterback to log a victory over the University of Florida. And as the number of years since that victory has increased, so too has the number of opportunities to talk about Kentucky’s losing streak.

“We’ve talked about this Florida thing since year 10, 15, 20, you name it,” says Ransdell. “It is not something that I take any pride in, by any stretch.”

When Ransdell and the Wildcats beat the Gators 10-3 on Nov. 15, 1986, there was no reason to think that Florida would dominate the next three decades of the matchup. Florida led the series by a humble 20-17-1 margin at that point. Kentucky had won more SEC titles than Florida. But a few years later, around the time that Kentucky hired Alabama retread Bill Curry as head coach, the Gators hired an offensive mastermind named Stephen Orr Spurrier, and never looked back.

Kentucky has lost to Florida in every way imaginable — last-second touchdowns (1993), unfortunate and costly interceptions (2003), uncalled penalties (2014), 65-0 and 73-7 blowouts in consecutive trips to The Swamp (1994 and 1996), it’s all happened.

Ransdell disagrees that there’s a mental element to Kentucky’s losing streak.

“I can think of half a dozen games, even games in The Swamp, where we’re right there, and didn’t quite get it done,“ Ransdell said. ”I think it’s just finishing a game and executing.”

History aside, it is the Gators who are reeling coming into this weekend’s matchup at Lexington’s Kroger Field. There is reason for optimism in the Kentucky camp, and Ransdell is one of those optimists. This UK team reminds him of that 1986 team coached by defensive guru Jerry Claiborne.

“Kentucky, throughout these first three games, is showing a lot of grit and stick-to-it-iveness, and being opportunistic with turnovers,” says Ransdell. “I think this team, with Coach Stoops being a defensive coach, they’re kind of taking that personality. … There are a lot of similarities, as Coach Claiborne was a defensive guy as well.”

In the 1986 game, Ransdell went 20-for-23 passing for 161 yards, as Kentucky used a ball-control offense featuring future NFL running back Mark Higgs and Ransdell’s short passes to control the ball for over 41 minutes. For his part, Ransdell deflects much of the credit for the 10-3 win.

“When you beat a team 10-3, you’ve got to look at your defense,” he says. “They had some goal-line stands against Florida and just played lights out.”

That defense held Florida to 241 yards, and sealed the game by forcing a fumble from future Denver Bronco Ricky Nattiel as the Gators drove for a potential game-tying (or winning) score.

Another factor in the game may have been when it was played — before divisional play began in 1992, Kentucky usually played Florida in November. The 1986 game was played on a drizzly, gray day with temperatures hovering around freezing. Ransdell is reluctant to blame Kentucky’s streak on losing a home weather advantage.

“There’s an effect to some degree, when you have guys coming from sunny and 75 [degrees] to 35 degrees,” he admits. “When they’re out there shivering in warm-ups, that’s obviously a plus. [But] at the end of the day, you’ve still got to line up and play.”

Lining up and playing was something Ransdell did very well. He left UK as the university’s all-time passing yardage leader with 5,564 yards. He is not only the last UK quarterback to beat Florida, he’s also the last to win in Knoxville (1984) and the last to lead the Wildcats to a nine-win season (also 1984). In his post-playing days, Ransdell worked for the UK Television Network for a few years doing color commentary for delayed telecasts of UK football games. These days, he is a successful businessman with five children, and remains an ardent Wildcats backer.

Ransdell’s lengthy span as the last QB to beat Florida is not entirely without precedent in Kentucky history. QB Turner Gregg led UK to a win over Alabama in 1922 — and then waited 75 years for the next UK victory over the Tide. Gregg, well into his 90s, attended that 1997 game. Does Ransdell fear turning into the next Turner Gregg?

“Not at all,” he says. “I really am excited about Saturday.”

Ransdell plans to be at Kroger Field Saturday night, and is quite honest about his hopes.

“If I talk to you next year,” he says near the end of our conversation, “just make it brief and say, ‘It’s over!’ ”