Kentucky is 0-2 for the first time since 2016. Up next? Three top-25 teams.
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Game day: Kentucky vs. Ole Miss
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Mississippi football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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Kentucky lost to Mississippi on Saturday, falling to 0-2 to begin its 2020 season.
What do we make of the Cats’ slow start?
0-2
The most obvious negative from a UK defeat is that it lost for a second straight weekend, making it winless through two games for only the second time under head coach Mark Stoops.
If you’re following from afar, you’d probably guess that other 0-2 season came in one of Stoops’ first couple of seasons. It actually happened in his fourth year, the first in which the Cats gained bowl eligibility during his tenure. Kentucky lost its season opener to Southern Miss, 44-35, at home before getting drubbed at Florida, 45-7, the next weekend. They rebounded with two home wins (New Mexico State and South Carolina), lost to Alabama, then reeled off three straight wins over SEC foes before another two-game slide. Wins over Austin Peay and then-No. 11 Louisville assured UK of its first winning season since 2009.
An 0-2 start will not inspire confidence among fans as the 2020 campaign progresses. With three ranked foes in front of it, not also-rans from the Group of Five, an 0-5 start could very much be a reality by the time UK travels to Missouri on Halloween. Talk about scary.
Next up are No. 16 Mississippi State (Oct. 10), at No. 21 Tennessee (Oct. 17) and No. 4 Georgia (Oct. 24).
Hangover
Over the last few seasons, Kentucky has not fared well coming out of losses against ranked teams. Saturday saw that discouraging trend continue.
A narrow defeat at Florida was followed up with a narrow win over an Eastern Michigan team that finished with a losing record in 2017. Later that season, a big loss at Georgia gave way to an equally embarrassing outcome against Louisville at home.
After losing to Georgia in 2018, effectively taking it out of the SEC title conversation, the Cats laid an egg on the road against a worse Tennessee team the next week, guaranteeing it would no longer be in the hunt.
Last year, a winnable game against Florida slipped from their grasp, igniting what would become a three-game losing streak that ended with a season-shifting switch at quarterback. Hyped as an underdog last week at Auburn, the Cats did as much to keep themselves from winning as the Tigers did.
They could have followed up that disappointing trip with a win as the favorite, a position UK isn’t often in when playing other SEC foes. Instead, it faltered, as it has so often in similar spots recently.
Downfield threats
Kentucky ran the ball with ease against the Rebels. Throwing it, on the other hand ...
It’s concerning that, against a defense that allowed nearly 450 passing yards last week at home, UK couldn’t approach half that (151). Some of that, presumably, was by design; again, the Cats had their way on the ground. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
But, passes down field again were sparse, and again only Josh Ali (seven catches, 88 yards) really stood out from among those in the receiving corps. The passing game should continue to develop with Terry Wilson back under center, but right now it still looks like the training wheels are on.
This story was originally published October 3, 2020 at 7:35 PM.
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