Play-calling? Execution? COVID-19? No clear answer for UK debacle at Alabama
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Game day: Alabama 63, Kentucky 3
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Alabama football game at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
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For most of the first half in Tuscaloosa, Ala., Kentucky’s offense looked acceptable. If you set aside the red-zone ineffectiveness, one could argue it even looked good.
But those inefficiencies and the special-teams mistakes that saw two drives inside Alabama’s 10-yard line end with zero points happened, and were at least partly attributable to play-calling, according to starting running back A.J. Rose, who in a tweet later Saturday night said his comments were not meant to call out his coaches.
“We could have called some better plays or better play calls to get us in a better position. But it’s just how the game flow was going,” Rose said. “(Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran) called what he thought was needed. We had to go out there and execute it, and we failed at that.”
The first half could be up for debate, but it’s hard to pin the blame for all of Kentucky’s second-half ineffectiveness on play-calling; the Cats managed only 27 yards on 20 plays over seven offensive series in the final 30 minutes, and they finished the game with a 179 total yards of offense, the third time this season they were held under 200 yards and fifth time under 300. Backups Joey Gatewood and Beau Allen played the remainder after starting quarterback Terry Wilson threw a pick-six to swell Alabama’s lead to 35-3 early in the third quarter, and they combined to go three-and-out on four of the Cats’ final five possessions; the last series wasn’t one, technically, because the game ended before the Wildcats could punt on fourth-and-5.
That meltdown, coupled with another porous defensive night (Alabama netted 509 yards, the most by an opponent this year), resulted in the worst loss of Mark Stoops’ eight-year tenure and the third-worst defeat, period, since 1950. Only two losses to Florida — 73-7 in 1994 and 65-0 in 1996 — were more lopsided.
It was an ego blow for a program that over the last couple seasons has made strides toward being a respected program in the Southeastern Conference. Kentucky wasn’t just the latest team to get seasoned by an Alabama team team that’s made a habit of cooking teams this season; it was skewered to the point of being unrecognizable.
“I don’t like it,” Stoops said following the game. “It’s not a good look. It’s not where we want to be. We are over that. Today you have to give them credit.”
The Wildcats played despite 10 players, including five starters, being sidelined through a combination of injuries and COVID-19 protocols. Stoops before and after the game was adamant that playing in spite of that was the right call, and he intends on having his team make the trip to Florida next week unless player availability dictates otherwise (the SEC requires that teams have a minimum of 53 scholarship players available, though it’s worth noting that Mississippi State played Saturday with only 49 players who met that criteria).
Stoops said that wasn’t an excuse for Saturday’s outcome, but it wasn’t an ideal situation for his program.
“We can’t afford to practice all week with guys and then lose ‘em on Friday before we get on the plane,” Stoops said. “That’s not good for us. But I don’t like it and I don’t think anybody wants to accept that kind of score.”
It’s hard to believe it looking at the final score, but Kentucky at one time had an opportunity to take a lead. Some of its red-zone efforts could perhaps have been overcome against a lesser opponent, but Alabama is about 100 miles removed from whoever that foe is.
And whether play-calling or execution was most at fault, Kentucky came away with three points in four quarters. It was unlikely to win on Saturday, but it could have looked so much better losing than it did.
“Early in the game I thought our guys were playing extremely hard, extremely physical, and, again, we can’t make mistakes,” Stoops said. “It hurts you. I think, mentally, it deflates you as a team.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2020 at 9:26 PM.
