October Woes Continue for Kentucky Football

Green Day had it all wrong. September has been kind to the Kentucky football program. In recent years it’s the month of October that’s given the BBN the blues.

Saturday night Kentucky’s 14-point first quarter lead was erased in what felt like an instant. The Cats actually had a one-point lead entering the fourth quarter before falling apart in a 38-21 loss to Missouri.

The loss dropped the Cats to 1-2 in SEC play and ensured Kentucky will have a losing record in the tenth month of the year. Dating back to the Covid-shortened season in 2020, Kentucky is 5-10 in the month of October. Even in Kentucky’s benchmark 9-3 2021 regular season, October kicked off with big home wins over Florida and LSU before a three-game losing streak ensued.

In the four seasons prior Kentucky never lost more than one game in the tenth month of the year, compiling a 9-4 record in October from 2016-2019.

Why Kentucky Struggles in October

Critics will point to the schedule as the culprit of the problem. An easy September slate allows the Cats to pick up some wins before diving into the shallow end headfirst with a difficult string of SEC games.

While there is certainly truth to that fact, you also cannot ignore another fact. The bye week is always in October, limiting opportunities to course correct. Mark Stoops’ team needs that bye because his players are banged up after six weeks of football games.

One team in particular has presented a big problem for this program. Over the last four years Kentucky has played Georgia three times in the month of October. The Dawgs are 44-3 in that timespan.

Still Time to Bounce Back

The month of October has brought the BBN back down to Earth over the last four years, but the season is not over. Kentucky has been .500 or better in November in six of the seven times Mark Stoops has taken the Wildcats to the postseason. Even though Kentucky has a back-loaded 2023 schedule, Kentucky’s head coach is telling his team there are still wins on the table.

“When I show them the standings when we take the field against that team in two weeks, there’s going to be, what, 3, 4, 5 teams in our league with a better record. I mean, it’s tough,” Stoops said Saturday night after the loss.

“This is a tough league. And we beat each other up and right now we are a little bit battered and we have got a bye week and we have to become a better football team.”

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