UK has struggled with extra-point attempts all year. Against U of L, that could be big.
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Preview: Kentucky football vs. Louisville
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Louisville football game scheduled for 3 p.m. at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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During Saturday’s home loss to No. 1 Georgia, Kentucky football fans watched a familiar outcome on the field, with a demoralizing new statistic to accompany it.
After the Wildcats failed on a two-point conversion attempt in the fourth quarter, the CBS broadcast of the game informed viewers that UK is now 0-for-5 on two-point attempts this season.
According to CBS, UK is the team with the most two-point attempts in the country without a successful one this season.
Two of those five failed attempts were not even planned, but instead the result of bad execution on extra-point kicks.
In a macro sense, UK’s inability to convert on two-point attempts and its continued problems on extra points are reflective of Kentucky’s offensive struggles in the red zone and kicking game miscues.
In a micro sense, it indicates that Kentucky may not be able to come up with a timely play during this weekend’s Governor’s Cup matchup against Louisville at Kroger Field.
As of Wednesday morning, three major sportsbooks (Bovada, FanDuel and DraftKings) all had Kentucky listed as the favorite for Saturday’s game, but by three points or less.
In 33 all-time meetings between UK and U of L, only two games have been decided by three points or fewer.
While the last four meetings between the schools on the gridiron have been blowouts (with the last three in Kentucky’s favor), Saturday’s game is expected to be a close affair.
With that in mind, here’s a look inside the after-score conversion attempt struggles for head coach Mark Stoops’ team this season, and what that may portend for the regular-season finale against the Cardinals.
Failed two-point conversion pass at Florida
UK’s first failed two-point conversion attempt of the season was also the only conversion failure that came in a win.
With less than 90 seconds until halftime, a QB sneak was called and quarterback Will Levis took the ball across the goal line from 1 yard out to cut a Florida lead to 16-13.
The ensuing extra-point attempt featured a bad exchange from senior long snapper Cade Degraw and the holder, senior Chance Poore, which prevented kicker Matt Ruffolo from attempting the kick.
The snap from Degraw to Poore was low and in on the body of Poore, and his attempt to get the hold down resulted in the ball trickling through his legs.
Poore picked the ball up, scrambled to his right while backtracking and eventually jumped and threw the ball to the goal line, where it was deflected before falling incomplete.
Failed two-point conversion run at Ole Miss
UK’s two-point failure at Ole Miss once again wasn’t a scripted one.
With less than 90 seconds to go until halftime, a creative play design saw Levis and senior wide receiver Tayvion Robinson link up on a shovel-pass touchdown that cut an Ole Miss lead to 19-12.
UK lined up for an extra point, but the kicking unit again misfired. A low snap gave Poore issues when trying to hold the ball for Ruffolo, and with the timing thrown off, Ruffolo pulled out of the extra-point attempt by the time Poore had the hold in place.
What followed was a scramble play that resulted in Poore being tackled near the sideline.
This moment was one of several lowlights for the Kentucky kicking unit at Vaught–Hemingway Stadium.
Ruffolo also missed a 39-yard field goal and had an extra point blocked in the first quarter.
UK lost by three points in an ending notable for Levis fumbling the ball with less than a minute left while inside the Ole Miss red zone.
Failed two-point conversions (pass and run) against Vanderbilt
Possibly the most high-profile failures on two-point conversions this season came in UK’s embarrassing home loss to Vanderbilt this month.
The Cats failed on two occasions — both through the air and on the ground — to get a successful conversion against the Commodores. UK lost the game by three points.
After the game, UK offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello shed light on each goal-line failure.
The first attempt — which came with UK leading 15-14 after a 5-yard touchdown run by Chris Rodriguez Jr. early in the fourth quarter — saw UK attempt a pass with Levis in the shotgun formation.
Levis had three receivers (including two tight ends) to his left, and one receiver to his right, with Rodriguez lined up to his right in the backfield.
Levis was pressured immediately and sacked. The play lasted four seconds.
“The first two-point conversion they all-out blitzed us,” Scangarello said. “The tight end got hung up. The outlet was to throw it in the corner of the end zone.”
UK had two tries at the second two-point conversion attempt, which came with UK leading 21-17 after a 72-yard rushing score by Rodriguez with five minutes left in the game.
Kentucky first tried a pass out of the shotgun formation to freshman wide receiver Barion Brown in the left corner of the end zone, but the play was flagged for pass interference against Brown.
“The second one, I thought was a good decision. We went to the right guy,” Scangarello said of the pass attempt. “The guy tackled him, we got the penalty.”
Now from the one-and-a-half-yard line, Levis lined up under center with junior running back JuTahn McClain and tight end Jordan Dingle in the backfield.
After freshman wide receiver Dane Key ran across the field in motion, Levis handed the ball off to McClain, who began the play all the way back at the 9-yard line.
Nine Vanderbilt defenders in the box overwhelmed seven UK blockers, and penetration from the Commodores stopped McClain well short of the goal line.
“The decision was to run the ball straight ahead, not throw it to make a mistake. ... You’re in that no-man’s land a yard and a half off the ball,” Scangarello said of the run attempt. “The worst thing you can do is do something that leads to a two-point swing, so we chose to be conservative. That was a staff decision to be conservative there. It just didn’t work out.”
Why was McClain the player that UK opted to run the ball with on that play, instead of Rodriguez, fresh off a 72-yard touchdown run and a play of rest?
“That’s a good question on the substitution. He was (gassed). That was right after the 77-yard run,” Scangarello said. “It happened earlier. He had a long run too where he came out on a play. C-Rod is a warrior, but yeah, I’m sure that was the reason for it.”
Failed two-point conversion pass against Georgia
UK’s lone score of the game against No. 1 Georgia came with 10 minutes to go, and put the Wildcats down 16-6 after an impressive nine-play, 99-yard drive.
It was capped by a short touchdown pass on fourth down from Levis to Brown on a slant route.
On the two-point conversion attempt, Levis lined up in the shotgun formation and threw the ball again to Brown, who was running a fade route toward the left corner of the end zone.
The ball was thrown a bit too far by Levis, who shuffled his feet right before delivering the pass and the ball landed out of the reach of Brown.
Kentucky’s season-long struggles in the kicking game
Two of Kentucky’s five failed two-point conversion attempts this season weren’t planned, but instead the result of bad execution on extra-point attempts, underscoring the season-long struggles for Kentucky’s kicking game.
Senior kicker Matt Ruffolo — who entered the season with career totals of 26-for-32 (81.25%) on field goals and 94-for-99 (94.95%) on extra points — is just 12-for-20 (60%) on field goals and 23-for-25 (92%) on extra points this season.
Ruffolo missed a field goal in both of UK’s three-point losses this season (at Ole Miss and versus Vanderbilt).
Ruffolo also had an extra point blocked against both Ole Miss and Tennessee.
How has Louisville fared on two-point attempts?
Louisville’s body of work this season on two-point conversion attempts isn’t as robust as Kentucky’s.
The Cardinals have attempted just one two-point conversion, and it came during last week’s home win over North Carolina State.
Early in the fourth quarter with a 12-point lead, the Cardinals failed on a two-point conversion passing attempt.
On the play, Louisville junior quarterback Brock Domann lined up in the shotgun with a running back to his left, one receiver to his left and two wideouts to his right.
Domann caught the snap and looked to his right, but struggled to find a window to throw the ball in. He retreated back to the 15-yard line before scrambling to his right and delivering a pass to the back of the end zone that was nearly caught by sophomore wide receiver Ahmari Huggins-Bruce.
Something that is a known quality this season, though, is the consistency of Louisville junior kicker James Turner, who is 19-for-21 (90.48%) on field goals.
Turner has made all of his field goals from 39 yards and closer.
Turner has missed only one extra point this season, a blocked attempt during a road loss on Oct. 1 at Boston College.
Saturday
Louisville at Kentucky
When: 3 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Louisville 7-4 (4-4 ACC), Kentucky 6-5 (3-5 SEC)
Series: Kentucky leads 18-15
Last meeting: Kentucky won 52-21 on Nov. 27, 2021, at Louisville.
This story was originally published November 24, 2022 at 7:30 AM.
