Monday Huddle: Kentucky's toughest stretch arrives with plenty of questions

Ever since the transfer portal rebuild started for Mark Stoops and his coaching staff in the offseason, one critical area of the schedule stood out. It felt like the Cats had to bank at least one SEC win before a gauntlet arrived in October. They failed to do that after dropping a home game to top-five Ole Miss and seeing four second quarter turnovers turn a close game against South Carolina in a 22-point loss.

Kentucky (2-2, 0-2) has lost eight consecutive power conference games and will very likely see that streak extend over the next month. A brutal stretch begins now.

Georgia, Texas, and Tennessee each have one loss so far this season, but all three programs are expected to be in the College Football Playoff mix when we get into late November. Things could get worse before they get better for Stoops and his football team this week.

What’s on the line in Week 6? KSR’s Monday Huddle is covering that now as the Cats head to Athens as a three-touchdown underdog who is searching for answers.

First Down: The two touchdowns or less drought

Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan will coach his 17th game at Kentucky on Saturday afternoon. In six games against FCS/Group of Six competition, the Wildcats are averaging 37 offensive points per game on 6.8 yards per play. UK has scored at least three offensive touchdowns in each outing. Unfortunately, that has not translated to power conference play.

In the loss over the weekend, Kentucky scored 13 offensive points on 3.9 yards per play at Williams-Brice Stadium. It was the 11th consecutive power conference game where the offense scored two touchdowns or less. This was fifth time during that stretch where the offense scored one touchdown or less. The data is the data at this point. Under Hamdan, UK is averaging 13.5 offensive points per game on 4.5 yards per play. That is simply not good enough.

You cannot expect to win football games when you know going into every contest that you are going to score 20 points or less. Mark Stoops was not lying when he said that Kentucky does not have a much room for error. They do not have almost any because of the offense.

Kentucky pressed the backup quarterback button and it did not work. In two Cutter Boley starts against power conference competition, the Cats have nine turnovers. That is the first problem that will need to get fixed this week at Sanford Stadium but this long losing streak is not ending until this team figures out a way to start scoring points.

UK scored at least three offensive touchdowns in four power conference games under Rich Scangarello in 2022. UK scored at least three offensive touchdowns in three power conference games under Eddie Gran in 2020. UK scored at least three offensive touchdowns in three power conference games under Shannon Dawson. Even when things got bad in the past, it was never this bad.

Kentucky has to develop Boley and find out if they can win games with him at quarterback in the future. That is the No. 1 goal right now. While working towards that goal, they must also figure out if they can score points or not. If they can’t, they simply cannot keep going down this path. You cannot successfully play football this way.

This scoring drought is a massive issue that might have a hard time finding solutions against Georgia and Texas over the next two games.

Second Down: Avoiding a collapse

The first ugly moment for Kentucky has arrived in Week 5. Part of the rebuild in the offseason was to build a team with more durability, discipline, and toughness that could absorb adversity better and bounce-back. We’re about to find out just how much resilience this group has.

Following last year’s humbling defeat in South Carolina in Week 2, we saw UK get off the mat and play one of its best games of the season against Georgia before crushing an 11-win Ohio team and stunning undefeated Ole Miss in Oxford. The Cats will look to have a similar bounce-back performance over the next month but some more adversity is on the way.

It would be a significant upset if Kentucky won any game in October. The Cats are playing three top-15 teams over the next four weeks. Some winnable opportunities will arrive on the schedule in November, but they have to survive this month first. This coaching staff must keep this team together and keep everyone pulling on the rope. They failed to do that last year and it ended in disaster. The offensive ineptitude slowly became offensive and defensive ineptitude as UK could not stop the run for a month to end the year. That cannot happen this year if UK wants any shot at turning this around.

This is a huge challenge for Mark Stoops and his brand new roster. Some unfortunate losses could be on the way. That could mean 11 consecutive power conference losses and 11 consecutive power conference losses at home. The negative trends are piling up in a hurry. Kentucky is in a big hole and must climb out of this hole. To do that, this team cannot splinter like last year’s group.

Getting to a bowl game feels highly unlikely now. However, it is imperative for UK to end some of these embarrassing streaks that are growing. That probably won’t happen until November. The Cats must keep their team together over this brutal stretch to make a run in the last month of the season. If they do not, you could be looking at a winless SEC campaign for the first time since 2013.

Third Down: Finding a positive

Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium was a disaster in just about every facet. Now the Cats must go on the road again to face a Georgia team that saw its 33-game winning streak at home end on Saturday night to Alabama. Many will expect that game to get ugly. Kentucky is reeling entering the matchup.

Moral victories get you nowhere but this team probably needs a moral victory.

Kentucky will have their hands full against Georgia on Saturday night. This program has scored 13 points or less in this series every meeting since 2019. Another low-scoring game seems highly likely for the offense. Running the football is always difficult in this matchup. Can Kentucky find anything positive in the passing game?

Georgia is having some struggles on offense. We’ve seen Kentucky give the Bulldogs some fits in the past. Can that happen again on Saturday? The Cats are playing some good football in the front and had a productive game in Week 5 until it came time to get LaNorris Sellers on the ground. That will not be as difficult of a challenge this week but Georgia’s wideouts and running game pose a bigger threat.

Winning will be difficult, but getting into the second half with this as a one-possession game would be a step in the right direction. If we’re keeping it real, we can all acknowledge that this upcoming stretch will be difficult, and that Georgia is the toughest game of the three in October, but the Cats need to show some life. If they do not, it feels like this entire thing could crumble.

It’s a big week — again. Kentucky wanted to construct a team with resiliency in the offseason. We’re about to find out how much resolve this group has as getting knocked to the mat in the biggest spot of the season in Week 5. This program needs something positive to happen.

The week ahead at KSR

Game week is here, and KSR will provide the Big Blue Nation with in-depth pregame content from now until kickoff arrives on Saturday afternoon. Kentucky’s second road trip of the season is a difficult one.

We will have full coverage of Mark Stoops’ press conference on Monday. From there, practice reports and daily podcasts will take over as Saturday quickly approaches. We will also get an SEC availability report on Wednesday that will give us an official status update on where UK sits on the injury front.

Over at KSR+, we will have our in-depth scouting report on Georgia published on Thursday along with some more preseason content before this Week 6 game arrives. Can the Cats show some fight as a three-touchdown underdog?