Similar mistakes spoil Kentucky's upset bid against No. 1 Georgia
Things got fun in the fourth quarter at Kroger Field, but a lot of other stuff looked familiar. Kentucky has dropped its third home game of the season and scored two offensive touchdowns or less for the fourth time in an SEC game this season.
Things, unfortunately, stayed the same overall against No. 1 Georgia.
Despite a valiant effort from Brad White’s defense holding a top-10 offense to just one touchdown and 1.78 points per drive, it still wasn’t enough to make this a one-possession game. We are live from the press box to provide some instant takeaways after the fifth loss of the year.
Offense creates scoring opportunities but cannot finish
Mark Stoops wants his Kentucky team to play a specific style of football. His teams are typically pretty good at luring opposing foes into that brand of ball. Kentucky wants to shrink the game by limiting possessions, eliminating explosive plays on defense, and getting teams into a possession-by-possession fistfight. The Cats love to play in the mud and are usually pretty good at it.
When you play that way, every possession counts. Complementary football is critical. Specifically, your offense has to avoid three-and-out possessions and finish drives with points when scoring opportunities are created.
Kentucky did neither against Georgia on Saturday.
The Wildcats got eight possessions in the game and created four scoring opportunities. Three of those possessions reached the red zone. However, only one of those possessions ended with points. In all three of the other non-end-of-the-half possessions, Kentucky went three-and-out. That is not complementary football.
Kentucky did some good things on Saturday as Barion Brown had the best game of his young career, but this game is about scoring points. For the fourth time in eight SEC games, Kentucky’s offense scored two touchdowns or less. The offense never scored more than three offensive touchdowns in a league game this season.
The Cats entered Week 12 ranking No. 72 nationally in points per drive (2.21). That number is going to take a hit after putting up 0.75 points per drive against the No. 1 defense in college football. The offense simply was not good enough in a game that Kentucky had a chance to win.
That’s been the story of the season.
Defense bows up in the red zone to keep the game within reach
When you dig into the box score, Georgia’s offense did have a good day. Offensive coordinator Todd Monken saw his unit post a 54 percent success rate on 63 snaps and rushed 247 yards on 5.4 yards per rush. The offense punted just twice in eight non-kneel possessions and created five scoring opportunities with each ending in the red zone.
Kentucky gave up just one defensive touchdown against an offense that ranked No. 26 in red zone touchdown percentage (69.6%) entering this week. Brad White’s defense gave Kentucky a chance at the win.
At times the talent gap was obvious, but the Cats came up with an interception and turnovers downs after halftime. It then forced consecutive stops to give the offense two more possessions in the fourth quarter down 10.
The Wildcats have a legit top-20 defense, and they’ve produced winning results all season. White’s unit deserves better than a 6-5 record.
Some more kicking game blunders
Despite a good effort from punter Wilson Berry, Kentucky was unable to get out of the game without a huge mistake in the kicking game. Down 10 with 4:17 left in the fourth quarter, Matt Ruffolo came on for a 38-yard field goal. A bad snap led to another miss.
There has been a litany of errors in the third phase this season, and they show up every Saturday. Kentucky’s program is potentially looking at a lot of changes this offseason. Correcting the third phase has to be near the top of the to-do list.
Barion Brown shows out
Throughout the season, we have seen some special flashes from true freshman Barion Brown. The former top-100 recruit has a very bright future. Saturday was his best effort of the season.
The Middle Tennessee native finished the game with 10 receptions on 13 targets for 145 yards and one touchdown. Brown posted three receptions of 30-plus yards and played a big role when the Cats created scoring chances.
Meanwhile, fellow rookies Dane Key and Josh Kattus chipped in a combined four receptions. The future is bright for this Kentucky passing game.
Saturday was a step forward but still not good enough
Kentucky entered the 2022 season having won double-digit games in two of the last four years. The Cats have a legitimate case as a top-25 program. This football organization is way past the moral victory stage.
The next step for this program is to win 10 regular-season games. If you can make a run at that, you are likely playing for a division title in November. Eventually, you’re going to have to knock off the beast in Athens. Covering the spread for the fourth time in a row in this series is simply not good enough.
This fall was a backward step for the program. However, the future remains bright thanks to some young talent that has gained pivotal playing experience this year. Kentucky needs to grow from the growing pains that this season provided. But before it gets time to fix things in the offseason, the Cats must beat Louisville.
The year will be seen as a legitimate disaster without a fourth consecutive win in the Governor’s Cup series. Next week’s home game is monstrous.
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