First Down Kentucky: The Roster isn't the Issue

Since Kentucky wrapped up spring practice a month ago, most of the attention has focused on how Mark Stoops is completing the 2024 roster. It makes sense. April was an active month in the college football transfer portal. The Wildcats lost eight players to the transfer portal before adding two, CB DJ Waller and QB Gavin Wimsatt.

While folks clamored for information on prospective new players, we did not see the forest through the trees. Adding a few pieces to the puzzle is insignificant compared to the real issue this team must address this offseason.

The 2022 and 2023 Kentucky football teams each entered the season with quite a bit of hype thanks to excellent roster-building. The Wildcats recruited top-notch skill players to surround Will Levis, then the following year attracted one of the best quarterbacks in the portal to come to Kentucky. Even though it looked good on paper, each team fell short of expectations.

Why did they fall short? It falls on the feet of the coaches. It did not take too long to understand that Rich Scangarello wasn’t cut out for the job in 2022. Despite Liam Coen’s return in 2023, Kentucky couldn’t execute in critical situations. The offensive operation was slow and filled with self-inflicted mistakes. The Cats committed 6.1 penalties per game and turned it over 20 times, tied for the most in the SEC.

One of those turnovers happened with just a few ticks left on the clock at South Carolina. Another happened late at Louisville, but not too late for the Cats to respond with a go-ahead score. The defense had its fair share of struggles too. They were a fourth-quarter stop away from beating Tennessee and Clemson. Oh, and there was the fake punt meltdown against Missouri that we can’t forget.

Kentucky will start the season with the most returning production of any team in the SEC. The roster is not the issue. Playing clean football and executing in critical situations, particularly in SEC games at Kroger Field, will determine how the Big Blue Nation feels about this program’s performance in December.

Kentucky Football has a Top 30 Facility

The college football arms race has slowed to a crawl, thanks to NIL. For years, each offseason was filled with campaigns highlighting the latest over-the-type upgrades to college football facilities around the country. All of the money that was used to fund those extravagant facilities is now being funneled directly to players through NIL. Even though it’s not as important as it used to be in recruiting, you don’t want to be left behind. 247 Sports ranked the 30 best football facilities in the country and Kentucky’s eight-year-old Joe Craft Football Training Facility ranks No. 21. Not too shabby.

The SEC Does Community Notes

The internet had a field day when an image of the cover of the new deluxe edition of EA Sports College Football 25 was unsurfaced on Friday. Instead of one cover athlete, it features athletes from dozens of schools leaving the tunnel to the playing field. If your school was featured, you took a victory lap. Missouri fans did not appreciate their omission.

Fresh off an 11-2 season and a Top 10 finish in the AP Poll, the Tigers are making their case this offseason to be considered among the best of the best. Their star wide receiver, Luther Burden, is back for one last ride and many Mizzou fans believe he belongs on that deluxe edition cover image.

A video of Burden was shared on Twitter with the caption, “We win Biletnikoffs not video game covers.” The post went viral for reasons the creator did not intend. Now when the video crosses your timeline you’ll see the following Community Note, reminding viewers that a Missouri football has in fact never won an award given each year to college football’s top wide receiver.

Good News on a Former Kentucky Wildcat

A few weeks ago I shared a story about Dean Wells, a former Kentucky defensive lineman who’s currently in the middle of a more than yearlong battle with leukemia. Wells just wrapped up a difficult week of treatment that concluded with a successful bone marrow transplant. It’s great news on the former Cat’s long road to recovery.