Kentucky delivers last punch in SEC East slugfest
There is no such thing as winning pretty in football. There is no such thing as winning ugly in football. At the end of the day, it’s all about having more points on the scoreboard than your opponent when the clock hits zeroes.
Kentucky played in a roller coaster college football game with Missouri at Faurot Field where each top-15 defense dominated until it came winning time in the fourth quarter. The Cats were able to make the bigger plays in crunch time to record their seventh win over Mizzou in the last eight meetings.
After a brutal blowout loss to Tennessee, Mark Stoops and his football team found a way in the 21-17 victory to get to 6-3 (3-3) with three home games remaining on the slate. Now it’s time to react to what we just witnessed in a wild November football game.
Defense, defense, defense
It would be wrong to start this game recap without recognizing the work done by both Brad White and Blake Baker as their defenses balled out on Saturday.
The Wildcats and the Tigers each entered the game with borderline top-15 defenses, and each played like it.
Kentucky held Missouri to 3.9 yards per play, 3.2 yards per non-sack rush, 5.5 yards per attempt, and a 28.3 percent success rate. The Cats compiled an 18.3% havoc rate highlighted by nine tackles for loss. Other than missing a tackle on Brady Cook‘s 20-yard touchdown scamper, White’s defense was excellent.
Now to the other side. Missouri held Kentucky to 4.1 yards per play, 3.5 yards per non-sack rush, and a 28.8 percent success rate. The Tigers compiled a 23.7 percent havoc rate highlighted by six sacks. Unfortunately for the home team, Kentucky scored three touchdowns in three red zone possessions, and that ultimately ended up being the difference in the game.
The defenses were the strengths entering this contest, and both units played like it on Saturday. Both sides deserved a victory after strong performances.
Offense delivers in crunch time
After claiming a 14-3 lead with just under six minutes remaining in the third quarter, Kentucky’s offense went into a funk. Consecutive three-and-outs led to consecutive touchdown drives for Missouri to give the Tigers a 17-14 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
Rich Scangarello’s offense then answered the ball.
After a botched squib kick gave Kentucky great field position, a 19-yard completion to Dane Key and a personal foul by Missouri gave Kentucky the ball just outside of the red zone. However, some more adversity hit when a holding flag on Dekel Crowdus negated a 21-yard touchdown pass to Barion Brown.
Kentucky found another way.
Despite a false on Jeremy Flax that created a third-and-long, Will Levis connects with Key, and the blue-chipper finishes the deal with a game-winning touchdown reception.
After struggling for most of the game, the Cats went 58 yards in six plays to quickly reclaim the lead in the fourth quarter drive. A monster late possession from an offense that has had all kinds of issues this season helped Kentucky win a huge game on the road.
Just what the doctor ordered.
Kicking game errors cost Kentucky’s opponent the game
We all know how much of a headache the kicking game for Kentucky has been this season. Saturday’s game was no different with a plethora of issues.
The Cats missed two field goals, had two penalties on returns, another penalty that gave Missouri another field goal opportunity, some more snapping issues, and a fumble on a squib kickoff return. Due to the kicking game’s inefficiency, the Cats clung to a one-possession lead at halftime instead of being up double-digits.
But Missouri made the bigger mistakes.
In the third quarter, what appeared to be a dropped snap turned into a punt fake that led to a Missouri turnover on downs. Kentucky would then go 34 yards in eight plays to take a 14-3 lead with under six minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Fast forward to the fourth quarter, and a bad Kentucky snap on a punt attempt led to rouging the punter penalty on Missouri that helped the Cats extend a critical time-killing drive. That flag cost the Tigers nearly two minutes on the clock and they would not get the ball back until under 50 seconds were left.
Kentucky has issues to fix, but Missouri was the team that made the game-defining kicking game mistakes on Saturday.
Will Levis delivers
Things weren’t pretty for Kentucky’s star quarterback. At times, they were downright ugly. But at the end of the day, the redshirt senior found a way to land just enough haymakers.
Despite having an atrocious sack rate (25%), Will Levis was still able to average 8.9 yards per attempt, logged a 52.6 passing success rate on non-sack plays, tossed three touchdowns, and had zero turnovers against a very aggressive defense.
Missouri is the best defense that Kentucky has seen this season, and the Cats needed their stars to deliver. Chris Rodriguez Jr. worked hard for 112 yards on the ground, but it was Levis who made the throws that led to explosive plays. In the red zone, the quarterback found Dane Key for critical touchdowns on third downs to get Kentucky over the hump.
There are a lot of issues the offense is dealing with, but their star quarterback was a playmaker on Saturday. Now the team gets to return home for a three-game homestand at Kroger Field where the Cats will have a chance to close the season strong after winning a huge swing game in Columbia.
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