The Cats fell to Vanderbilt Saturday night in disappointing fashion, with a final score of 20-13. Kentucky was marred with mistakes in all three facets of the game that led to heads hanging low leaving Kroger Field. Let’s take a look at the matchup and see where it all went wrong.
The first quarter ended with Kentucky having four penalties for 45 yards. To put that in perspective they were the least penalized team in the SEC with only 5.6 per game. They nearly surpassed that number in the first 15:00 minutes tonight.
It wasn’t all bad in the first half though, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye was able to punch the ball into the end zone giving Kentucky its first score of the night, tying the game up at 7-7. It felt like the tides were turning when D’Eryk Jackson picked off Diego Pavia giving him his first interception of the season but the Cats couldn’t capitalize. Between more costly penalties and a crucial Dane Key fumble on the 34-yard line the Cats just couldn’t keep any momentum going to sustain a drive to get points.
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To close the half, poor clock management allowed Vandy to score and Diego Pavia took advantage of it. Going into the locker room Vanderbilt took a 14-7 lead.
Vanderbilt started the 2nd half with the football, Kentucky was able to hold the Dores to a field goal bringing the score to 17-7. Cue more Kentucky mistakes where the Cats looked to put points on the board but snap issues on special teams cost them the chance to close the gap. After some back and forth Vandy decided to go for a 50-yard field goal to extend the lead 20-7.
Late in the fourth quarter, it looked like there may just be a chance for Kentucky to steal a win when Brock Vandagriff found Dane Key for a 22-yard touchdown to bring it within 7. Unfortunately, another special teams snafu would lead to that extra point attempt never meeting Alex Raynor’s foot, leaving the Wildcats in that 20-13 hole that they would close the game with.
Costly Penalties
Kentucky committed 12 penalties for 105 yards in tonight’s game. During his post-game show Mark Stoops said “You don’t win games by being all psyched up and by being irrational, it comes down to discipline and execution”. With the number of penalties committed the execution for tonight’s game just wasn’t there.
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Controlling the Clock
Vanderbilt came into Kroger field tonight and replicated what they did against Alabama last week. Sure they didn’t score 40 points on the Cats. But they did control the clock. They won the time of possession battle 34:35 to 25:25. It’s hard to score points when your offense is struggling but even harder when the other team is playing keep away as well as Vanderbilt has been doing lately.
3rd Down Conversion
Another stat that sticks out is Vandy’s success on 3rd down. They went 8 of 13 on 3rd downs against a defense that has done well at getting off the field in that situation. You have to wonder if some of the frustrations bled over into other areas of the game.
Box Score
However, the show must go on. Saturday, October 19th the Cats travel to Gainesville Florida to take on Billy Napier and his Gators. A Florida team that looked dead in the water just weeks ago took Tennessee to overtime tonight. I think we’ve learned you can’t overlook anyone this year in the SEC, hopefully, Stoops has the guys ready for a fight.
On Monday, Louisville football defensive back Tayon Holloway was detained and charged with first-degree strangulation and fourth-degree assault.
This comes just days after the former four-star prospect committed a costly personal foul to put a 2-7 Stanford team in field goal range and upset Louosillve 38-35 with a walk-off field goal.
As expected, Holloway has been indefinitely suspended from the team.
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“The University of Louisville is aware of the arrest of football student-athlete Tayon Holloway,” the university said in a statement. “As we gather more information, Tayon has been suspended indefinitely from all team activities.”
Things Cardinals seem to be in a downward trend as the Commonwealth Cup nears, November 30th.
Kentucky gets a much-needed victory over Murray St 48-6 to snap its four-game losing Streak. Brock Vandagriff led the way for the Cats, going 12-19 for 183 passing yards and two touchdown passes to Hardley Gilmore IV and Ja’Mori Maclin. 48 Points is the most points Kentucky has scored in a game since 2021 when the Cats scored 51 points against Louisville.
The defense held Murray St. without a touchdown. For the second time this season, Kentucky’s defense has held an opponent without a touchdown.
Freshman Standout today:
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For the second time this season, Kentucky breaks the 40-point mark as three freshmen make impacts for Kentucky. Jamarion Wilcox had 13 carries and 124 yards with a touchdown in the 3rd quarter.
Receiver Hardley Gilmore IV had two receptions for 72 yards and caught the 52-yard touchdown pass from Brock Vandagriff on the game-opening drive.
Four-star quarterback Cutter Boley started the second half for the Cats, going 10-14 and passing for 130 yards with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, both touchdown passes to sophomore receiver Anthony Brown-Stephens.
Defense Bounces Back:
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After giving up over 475 yards of total offense each of the last three games, Kentucky’s defense holds Murray State to 256 total yards of offense while also having three takeaways from the Murray State offense
Defensive Lineman Tre’vonn Rybka led the way for the defense with five tackles and the only sack of the game for Kentucky’s defense. Jordan Lovett had two takeaways in the first half for Kentucky and one in the red zone in the second quarter. Jackson Schultz had the final takeaway, picking off Jim Ogle’s pass late in the fourth quarter.
Box Score
With the win today over Murray St., Kentucky moves to 4-6 (1-6 SEC) with two games remaining. They look to keep their bowl eligibility alive as they travel to Austin, Texas, and face the No. 3 ranked Texas Longhorns at 3:30 pm on ABC.
To say there is unrest in the Kentucky Football fanbase would be an understatement. With a 3-6 record overall, and 1-6 in the SEC (15th out of 16) things look bleak, and there is still a quarter of the season to go. Considering the regression from the previous two seasons as well, it’s difficult to be optimistic about the future.
Over the last few weeks, rumors have circled that head coach Mark Stoops has considered retiring at the end of the season. Optics wise it makes sense, his older brother Bob Stoops surprisingly retired from Oklahoma at just 56, and Mark, now 57, has expressed a desire to spend more time with his children.
At his weekly press conference, Stoops was asked directly if there is any chance that he would walk away from Kentucky and retire at the season. To which he responded, bluntly:
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“Zero percent chance I do that. Next question.”
Mark Stoops is still owed more than $44 million on his contract. That’s A LOT of money to leave on the table and is the reason that the decision will be Stoops’ to make, as Kentucky cannot afford the buyout.
If Stoops holds true to his word and returns next season, NIL fundraising efforts may be the most difficult it has been for him. However, he hopes it sparks motivation to donate.
“I’ve seen it at other SEC schools,” Stoops said. “I want to stay away from that. I really get tired of — I don’t want to be like I am whining, I am crying. It is reality. You have to have dollars.”