QUICK TAKES: Ole Miss 30, Kentucky 23
In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky’s 30-23 loss to Ole Miss on Saturday in the SEC opener at Kroger Field.
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
Most fans are probably going to come out of today complaining about the offense, and I think that is totally justifiable after what we witnessed. The defense was okay. I wouldn’t say it was great or very good. The perimeter tackling on some of those short throws outside was not good enough and at other times UK didn’t offer enough resistance. But Kentucky would have had a really good chance to win today if the passing game had offered more of a challenge for the Rebels. Whether the issue was Bush Hamdan, Zach Calzada, the receivers, or some combination of the three, it was a big struggle when Kentucky tried to pass. They aren’t getting a lot from the receivers, and that’s leading to a lot of tight end targets. Given the operational issues on offense at the end of the half, it’s hard to have a lot of faith in the leadership on that side of the ball.
The good news is Kentucky was competitive and lost by seven points to a top-20 team. The bad news is this wasn’t a luxury game, this was the kind of game you would have liked to see them win because of how the Cats’ SEC schedule shapes up. They will come out of this game as a team that will still command some respect because they can run it and have played solid defense but there’s probably a hard ceiling for this team if the passing game doesn’t improve.
JEFF DRUMMOND:
This game reminded me a lot of the Missouri game from 2023 when Kentucky jumped out to a 14-0 lead and seemed to be dominating the game before a fake punt by the Tigers completely turned things around and sparked a 38-7 run the rest of the way. On Saturday, the Cats got the great start they were looking for, thanks to two interceptions by safety Ty Bryant in Ole Miss territory to help stake his team to a 10-0 lead. But Lane Kiffin rolled the dice early in the second quarter, going for it on 4th-and-1 from his own 44-yard line. The Rebels completed a 55-yard pass down to the UK 1-yard line, and scored on the next play. That was the start of a 20-3 run that put a UK team in a position it doesn’t want to be in: playing catch-up.
Kentucky’s offense was a disjointed mess once again, often struggling to get plays in to the quarterback on time, and shooting itself in the foot with some bizarre play calls that have fans irate right now. The Cats had back to back fourth-quarter drives to the Ole Miss 20- and 29-yard lines. Those yielded no points as UK failed on fourth down twice instead of kicking two field goals. Two weeks in a row, Kentucky has called an inexplicable play for the situation: the RPO from the 2-yard line last week against Toledo that resulted in a safety, and running a quarterback keeper with backup Cutter Boley on 3rd-and-9 today deep in Ole Miss territory. Clock management was a trainwreck all day, especially at the end of the first half, another lost scoring opportunity. This team has no margin for that kind of error in SEC games. Mark Stoops used the word “inexcusable” in the postgame press conference for some of the operation gaffes. He’s right. It was.