Kentucky’s offense draws national ridicule and one very obvious “WTF?” on TV

Aside from the run game, Kentucky’s offense embarrassed itself on national television on Saturday. Where should we even start? How about burning all three first-half timeouts to avoid delay of game penalties, leaving the Wildcats all out of timeouts for the final drive before halftime? Kentucky completely bungled that drive, too. There was a collective disappointment throughout Kroger Field when Kentucky knocked itself from field goal range with self-inflicted mistakes and clock mismanagement.

The lack of a passing game is still a significant issue, although the team more than doubled its passing yards (187) from a week ago (85). However, pre-snap problems troubled Kentucky all afternoon in its loss to Ole Miss. The offense was often confused between plays, scrambling to get in formation or even the right guys onto the field. The disorganization got so bad that ABC announcers Sean McDonough and Greg McElroy openly mocked Kentucky’s problems on the broadcast, even joking that Kentucky should defer instead of receive to start the second half.

“My goodness,” groaned McDonough, as the Wildcats struggled to get set during the disastrous end of the first half. “Wow,” McElroy added under his breath.

“For the most part, it’s been a very successful tenure,” McDonough said of Stoops. “It’s turned south the last couple of years, but these are the types of things that, if you are on the hot seat, that get you fired. It just does not look like a well-coached football team, in terms of the management and the operation.”

Fed Up with the “Messy” Offense and “Inexcusable” Mistakes, Stoops Made a Change at Halftime

“WTF are we doing?”

Just ridiculous pic.twitter.com/2f5YRrDYFy

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) September 6, 2025

Earlier in the first half, ABC’s camera caught Kentucky QB Zach Calzada asking, “What the **** are we doing?” toward the Kentucky sideline. In Calzada’s defense, there were communication issues with the headsets—also, thousands of people around the stadium and watching at home asked the same question: What were they doing?

“They’re pretty one-dimensional.”

Lane Kiffin called out Kentucky’s offense at halftime. He told ABC’s Molly McGrath, “They’re pretty much one-dimensional, not being able to throw right now,” during his assessment of the first half.

Kentucky had only 68 passing yards and 150 total yards of offense when Kiffin made his comment at the break. The passing slightly improved in the second half, highlighted by Calzada’s 44-yard throw to Ja’Mori Maclin. The long completion set up Kentucky’s game-tying score in the third quarter.

Still, the Wildcats have significant problems on that side of the ball, including a QB controversy two weeks into the season. Against Ole Miss on Saturday, Kentucky’s defense gave the Wildcats a chance, but the offense couldn’t do enough. From the wasted timeouts to headset confusion to the complete lack of rhythm and questionable decisions, it was a game that slipped away not because of talent, but because of operation and coaching. If Stoops and his offensive coordinator, Bush Hamdan, can’t clean up the basics, the frustration we saw Saturday will only grow louder as the season moves forward.