Kentucky football a no-show again in second half of 34-10 loss at Florida
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Game day: Florida 34, Kentucky 10
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A special teams misfire erased a Kentucky lead right before halftime, and it appeared to end any chance the Wildcats had of leaving Gainesville, Fla., with a victory on Saturday.
No. 6 Florida defeated UK 34-10 to continue its dominance of the Southeastern Conference’s East Division and its overall series against the Wildcats; it was Florida’s 33rd win against the Cats in the last 34 meetings.
Kentucky’s only victory during that stretch came in Gainesville in 2018, and for most of the first half the Cats appeared capable of playing spoiler. They held a 10-7 lead with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter but saw it disappear after a punt-return touchdown, and with it went all of Kentucky’s momentum. Florida seized control with a 17-point third quarter that saw the Cats’ offense come to a halt.
Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, who missed the Gators’ last two games with a concussion, scored three touchdowns and finished with 99 yards on just five receptions. All three scores were thrown by Heisman contender Kyle Trask, who made his debut against Kentucky last season and finished 21 of 27 for 256 yards without an interception in his second game against the Cats.
After matching Florida’s offense in the first half — 175 — UK finished with just 221 total yards in the game.
How it happened
After extending its first drive with a fourth-and-3 pass from Wilson to Keaton Upshaw to move into the red zone, a sack, overthrown pass and another sack took UK out of field-goal range and forced a Max Duffy punt. The Cats forced a fourth-and-2, but Florida picked up 15 yards on a fake, and then two plays later Trask tossed a 56-yard touchdown to star tight end Kyle Pitts for the game’s first score.
Kentucky again went for it on fourth down, this time rushing Wilson on a sneak in its own territory to extend its second drive, but that gamble gave the Cats just one additional set of downs; they did not attempt a fourth-and-2 conversion at their own 45 a few plays later.
Trask converted a third-and-12 pass from the Gators’ 14 to keep them moving on their second series, but a couple of Cats combined to force a fumble on their next play and DeAndre Square recovered it. Wilson hit Upshaw for a 13-yard gain then A.J. Rose picked up nine over two rushes before a Florida offsides penalty gave the Cats another first down. Kavosiey Smoke picked up seven to get to Florida’s 4-yard line. Smoke was stopped for no gain on the next play. Following a timeout to mull things, Wilson hit Upshaw for a touchdown in the middle of the end zone to tie things up with 11:18 to play in the first half.
Kadarius Toney reeled in a 21-yard pass from Trask to start Florida’s third drive but a tackle for loss on the next play put it behind the chains. The Gators got four back on the next play a third-and-6 pass was incomplete, prompting their first punt. Smoke lost a yard to start Kentucky’s ensuing possession but gained 13 on the next play. Josh Ali picked up nine yards on a jet sweep and Rose rushed for 11 right after that. Rose and Wilson rushed for five yards apiece on the next two plays to get to midfield.
DeMarcus Harris drew a pass-interference penalty, his second in as many weeks, to move the ball into Florida territory, before Ali rushed for 15 yards to Florida’s 25. After Kentucky got nothing on its next two plays, Wilson rushed for 19 yards to the Gators’ 6. Rose picked up a yard on the next play, but two incomplete passes from Wilson followed; Matt Ruffolo connected on a 22-yard field goal to give UK a 10-7 lead with 2:13 remaining in the first half.
Trask completed three straight passes to Nay’Quan Wright, covering 26 total yards, to move the Gators to their own 49. A completion to Trevon Grimes got them into UK territory but a face-mask penalty negated the gain and pushed them back 15 yards. Facing second-and-25, Trask again hit Wright on consecutive passes but the drive stalled at fourth-and-11 at midfield.
Jacob Finn’s punt pinned UK inside its own 1-yard line, but Rose gave it some room with rushes of 3 and 6 yards, each prompting Florida timeouts. Rose was injured on the next play, which resulted in a UK punt that was returned for a 50-yard touchdown by Toney to give the Gators a 14-10 lead at the break.
Trask hit Toney and Grimes for gains before Toney tossed a 12-yard gainer to Pitts on a trick play. Three straight flags — back-to-back face-mask penalties and a pass-interference penalty in the end zone — set Florida up at Kentucky’s 2-yard line, and Trask wasted no time throwing a second touchdown to Pitts to extend its lead to 21-10.
Kentucky went three-and-out on its first possession, and Florida soon after pushed its lead to 24-10. Trask completed a 42-yard heave into double coverage to Jacob Copeland before finding Dameon Pierce for a 9-yard pickup. An offside penalty put the Gators at Kentucky’s 9-yard line, but the Cats were able to hold Florida to a field-goal attempt. That breath of momentum was short-lived; Wilson threw an interception three plays into Kentucky’s next drive and Florida needed only three plays for Trask to hit Pitts for a third touchdown (31-10).
The Cats went three and out once more but Jamin Davis recovered a fumble by Wright in Florida territory. UK turned the ball over on its first set of downs, and Florida drove to the Cats’ 27 but missed a 45-yard field-goal try. The Gators later turned Wilson’s second interception into a successful field-goal attempt (34-10).
Next game
South Carolina at Kentucky
Saturday, Dec. 5 (Time and TV TBA)
This story was originally published November 28, 2020 at 3:22 PM.
