1983 Hall of Fame Classic Bowl 1983 Hall of Fame Classic Bowl was the sixth installment of the Hall of Fame Bowl . The game featured the Kentucky Wildcats of the Southeastern Conference and the West Virginia Mountaineers , then an independent . West Virginia was 8 - 3 entering the game and was ranked # 18 in the AP poll at the time of the game ; December 5 , 1983 AP poll at AP Poll Archive . com ] the Mountaineers had been ranked as high as # 4 in the AP poll during the season . Kentucky was 6 - 4 - 1 , 2 - 4 in the SEC . West Virginia was favored by 10 points over Kentucky . West Virginia took a 3 - 0 lead in the first quarter when Paul Woodside kicked a 39 yard field goal . In the second quarter Kentucky capped an 8 play , 54 yard drive with a touchdown . On third down with three yards to go Kentucky ' s Tony Mayes swept right and threw back to quarterback Randy Jenkins in the left corner of the endzone for the score . John Hutcherson hit the point after for a 7 - 3 Kentucky lead . Jenkins guided another drive in the second quarter with a 19 yard pass completion to Joker Phillips and a 14 yard completion to George Adams that set up Hutcherson for a 32 yard field goal with 0 : 38 left in the period . The halftime score was Kentucky 10 , West Virginia 3 . At the start of the second half Woodside recovered his own onside kick to give West Virginia possession at the Kentucky 48 . Jeff Hostetler took wight plays before finding Rich Hollins for a 16 yard touchdown pass . Woodside ' s point after tied the game at 10 - 10 with 11 : 10 left in the third quarter . West Virginia had two quick scores within two minutes of each other early in the fourth quarter . An 81 yard drive over 10 plays ended with Hostetler completing a 2 yard touchdown pass to Rob Bennett ; the extra point gave West Virginia a 17 - 10 lead . Two plays later Jenkins threw an interception that gave the Mountaineers the ball at the Kentucky 16 yard line . Woodside hit a 23 yard field goal to give West Virginia a 20 - 10 lead with 9 : 18 left in the game . Freshman quarterback Bill Ransdell replaced Jenkins and led Kentucky 92 yards in 11 plays , connecting with Joker Phillips on a 13 yard touchdown pass . The point after was unsuccessful , and with 5 : 50 left in the game West Virginia led 20 - 16 ; that was also the final score as Kentucky ' s final possession did not advance past the Kentucky 37 . In the final AP poll for the season West Virginia , finishing 9 - 3 , was ranked # 16 . Kentucky , a 10 point underdog , gained 306 yards to West Virginia ' s 288 ( including 216 passing yards to West Virginia ' s 88 ) and had 19 first downs to West Virginia ' s 18 . Jeff Hostetler , who led West Virginia ' s 17 point second half comeback , later played for the New York Giants , Oakland Raiders and Washington Redskins . George Adams , who rushed for 75 yards in the game , was Hostetler ' s teammate with the New York Giants and also played for the New England Patriots . Joker Phillips also later played for the Washington Redskins . In 2002 , Phillips became the offensive coordinator at Kentucky , and was named Head Coach - in - waiting following the 2007 season . He became the Head Football Coach at Kentucky following the retirement of Rich Brooks at the end of the 2009 season . Kentucky returned to the same bowl the following year , defeating # 20 Wisconsin 20 - 19 .