Kentucky's inability to execute in critical situations is frustrating Mark Stoops

Kentucky saw the game get away from them quickly in the second quarter against South Carolina. Four turnovers before halftime led to a three-possession margin that this team was not going to be able to overcome. The Cats are built to play a certain brand of football. That ultimately means shrinking the game and winning in the margins.

This program added 50 new players to the roster in the offseason in an effort to get games into the fourth quarter and to play in a bunch of close games. That did not happen on Saturday night in Columbia.

Kentucky simply is not playing winning football right now. That helped a close game at Williams-Brice Stadium turn into a blowout.

“We had to be precise. We had to execute in critical moments. We’re not doing that right now on either side of the ball,” Mark Stoops told Tom Leach on the UK Sports Network postgame show. “And that’s a little bit frustrating to me and our games are going to be very close. Our margin for error is not very big. We have to be better in those situations.”

Kentucky needs to win on third down, in the red zone, and in the turnover column. Kentucky allowed South Carolina to convert 10-of-19 third/fourth down attempts and converted just 5-of-15 third/fourth down attempts. The Cats scored 10 points in two red zone possessions and allowed 21 points in three non-garbage time red zone possession. UK didn’t produce a takeaway and had four turnovers on 10 non-end of half possessions. Kentucky was blistered in situational football. This team has to win in situational football to win games.

What happens next? This coaching staff must meet on Sunday at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility and try to find some answers.

“We just gotta keep on working,” said Stoops. “The coaches — we have to look at everything. And make sure we’re doing things to put them in a position to be successful and to execute.”

“We just gotta look at everything. What we’re doing coaching wise. Making sure the time on task is there. Like if we’re doing too much, and we’re not executing in critical situations, maybe pare it down a little bit. Do what we’re doing and do it well.”

Kentucky’s offense is running the football well when Seth McGowan is touching the ball. The defense was starting games well until it failed to get South Carolina off the field on the opening drive despite creating multiple third down situations. Those seem like building blocks but this team simply needs more building blocks.

The Cats do not have an easy button to press. Things looks bleak for the program currently but they must try to find answers. The first step is to get games into the fourth quarter where they can be won or lost after playing a season in 2024 where most games were decided before the final quarter even began. That can only happen if Kentucky is better in situational football.

Kentucky let the game slip away against South Carolina because they failed to execute in critical moments.