SEC Photo
In 1967 the folk/pop husband and wife duo Sonny & Cher released a song that was titled “The Beat Goes On”. The chorus of that song, “the beat goes on”, should have been the theme song for Kentucky’s opening game loss to Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium.
Once again the Kentucky Wildcats, on the precipice of moving into the elite of the SEC, found themselves floundering back into the middle of the pack. And the most disappointing part of that situation is that the wounds were all self-inflicted. A fumble and an interception at two critical junctures in the game by UK quarterback Terry Wilson caused a minimum of a 10-point swing in the game. The interception led to a 100-yard “pick six” that was later negated by a targeting call on Auburn but by then the damage was done.
There was a huge difference from going into halftime with momentum from a most probable 10-8 lead if Matt Ruffolo makes a chip shot field goal to dragging into halftime after giving up a golden scoring opportunity from the 1-yard line by throwing an interception at the goal line. After all, plays like that were supposed to be the old Kentucky, not the Mark Stoops version of the Cats.
Other offensive and special teams gaffes throughout the game didn’t help either. One, a fake punt attempt on 4th and 5 at the Kentucky 27-yard that was snuffed out by the Auburn punt return unit led to another Auburn short field and seven point trip into the end zone. The failed fake punt attempt came about because the coaches neglected to call off the play from the previous time Kentucky punted per Head Coach Mark Stoops.
He said after the game, “That one’s on me”. And it was because in the off-season the decision was made to not bring in a special teams coach when former special teams and secondary coach Dean Hood left to become the new head coach at Murray State. It looks like that decision could come back to haunt the Cats.
To make matters worse special teams were a big plus for Auburn. A tricky two-point conversion play by Auburn after they trailed Kentucky 7-0 caught UK off guard and took some of the wind out of their sails. Auburn also used their quarterback to punt twice and both times pinned Kentucky near their own goal line to start their possessions.
All in all, there were just too many mental errors – by the coaches, the players and the officials – to allow UK to pick up a much needed and possible road win at No. 8 Auburn. But unfortunately the Wildcats imploded and moved to 0-12 in road games against SEC West opponents and continued to lose to “big name” teams in the SEC. They are now 2-25 against the “best of the best” in the SEC during the Mark Stoops era.
So, next Saturday the Ole Miss Rebels come to town and from the looks of their game against Florida UK will have their hands full. Ole Miss has an offense that could give Kentucky fits if they continue to provide poor coverage by the secondary and the defensive line continues to get little pressure on the quarterback.
Here’s hoping that someone on the offense steps up and provides a little leadership — ala Lynn Bowden Jr last year — to help right the offensive ship. The coaches also will need to decide what the personality of this team is going to be. Are they going to open up the passing game and throw the ball more over the middle and down the field — and accept the risk of interceptions — or are they going to ratchet it in and try to run more “wishbone” sets with two backs in the backfield and only throw bubble screens and short routes to the running backs?
Are they going to bring more pressure on defense and play mostly man-to-man coverage or will they settle for zone coverage and a straight up pass rush to try to force teams to “dink and dunk” their way down the field? Unfortunately Saturday against Auburn it looked like UK was trying to do all of the above.
This week is a critical week for Kentucky Football to show who they really are. Have they really improved and earned a spot as a team that can finish in the top 5-6 in the SEC each year or are they going to fall back into the middle or bottom tier of the SEC with a 5-5 or 4-6 record? This Ole Miss game is a critical contest that will help decide that. One hates to say that the second game of the year is a make or break game, but it is.
So this Saturday a player or two from the offense and defense need to step up and become a “refuse to lose” playmaker in the mold of Josh Allen, Benny Snell and Lynn Bowden Jr. Anything less than that and we may see the Cats slip to 0-2 with a Mike Leach-led Mississippi State that just upset No. 6 LSU headed to town.
