A Lackluster Performance In Lexington
Kentucky gets embarrassed and could be in for much worse because of it.
Folks in Lexington, Kentucky thought this team would be able to compete with the top of the SEC. That has gone out the window and fell a hundred stories. The Cats lost to South Carolina 31-6, failing to beat the Gamecocks for the third year in a row. This was not just a loss, this was disastrous for the Cats. Following a promising week 1 performance, they faced a Gamecocks team that had struggled against Old Dominion.
Kentucky could not get much going on offense as QB Brock Vandergriff went 3-10 for 30 yards and an interception. The Cats ran for 139 on the ground, spearheaded by a tandem of Demie Sumo & Jason Patterson. That was the sole bright spot for the Cats. The Offensive line is a problem, and a solution may not exist. For years, the notorious "Big Blue Wall" repeatedly produced quality linemen, many of them playing at the next level. That's not the case this year, as Kentucky has one of the worst Units in Power 5 football giving up 5 sacks this weekend.
The Cats did what they could on defense, limiting South Carolina to only 252 yards of offense, forcing a turnover, and getting 3 sacks. With the offense struggling, the defense was forced to take risks which resulted in big plays from the Gamecocks. This defense is good but they can not be asked to win games by themselves. They need help from the offense.
Unfortunately for the Cats, the #1 Georgia Bulldogs in the nation comes to town next week. If the Cats had been 2-0 and performed well against SC then there would have been more of an optimistic outlook in this matchup. If the Offense can get it going and keep Vandergriff upright, he could be looking to have a monster game against his former school. None of that will happen. It looks like Kentucky may get beat by 50 and the season may be over before it starts.
The question going forward for the Cats has to do with Mark Stoops. Is he the guy to take this program to the next level? He turned it from a disaster into a strong program. Sometimes you need to go backward in order to move forward, maybe firing Stoops and getting a new face could be what makes Kentucky a real threat in the SEC.