Fake punt flips the script as Kentucky football crumbles in loss to Missouri
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Game day: Missouri 38, No. 24 Kentucky 21
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Missouri football game at Kroger Field.
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For one quarter, Kentucky football looked like a team that had successfully moved past its drubbing at No. 1 Georgia last week.
But when adversity hit against Missouri on Saturday, the Wildcats crumbled again, surrendering 17 consecutive points in the second quarter on the way to a 38-21 loss. The defeat dropped Kentucky to 5-2 on the season and 2-2 in SEC play in advance of an off week before a daunting five-game stretch to close the regular season.
Kentucky led 14-0 at the end of the first quarter, but lost momentum after a successful Missouri fake punt resulted in a touchdown. The Tigers added a field goal and another touchdown to take a 17-14 lead into halftime. Kentucky lost a fumble on the first play of the second half, which Missouri turned into a 31-yard field goal.
The Wildcats did rally to regain the lead at 21-20 with a promising third quarter drive, but Missouri quickly answered with its own score. A three-and-out followed for UK before Missouri scored again on a 19-yard Cody Schrader run in which the running back was barely touched on his way into the end zone. Any hope of a Kentucky comeback ended with Devin Leary interceptions on Kentucky’s next two drives.
Running back Ray Davis topped the 100-yard rushing plateau for the third time this season, but Kentucky’s passing attack continued to struggle mightily with Leary failing to reach 150 passing yards for the third consecutive game. Dropped passes plagued the receivers again as Kentucky lost three turnovers on the night. Kentucky was flagged for 14 penalties.
TURNING POINT
Kentucky dominated the first quarter, scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions and forcing a punt or turnover on Missouri’s first three possessions, but the momentum flipped on Missouri’s first possession of the second quarter. UK appeared to have earned another stop, but Missouri turned a fake punt into a 39-yard touchdown pass to score its first points. The Tigers would go on to score 10 point points in the second quarter, taking a 17-14 lead into the locker room after a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining.
MVP
On a night where both offenses made plenty of mistakes, Missouri punter Luke Bauer might have made the best throw of the night. He perfectly executed the second-quarter fake with a 39-yard pass to wide receiver Marquis Johnson over the head of Kentucky cornerback Andru Phillips. While UK did briefly take a third-quarter lead, it was Bauer’s pass that turned the game. Bauer’s touchdown pass illustrated a gap in special teams play as UK punter Wilson Berry struggled for most of the evening.
KEY STAT
Missouri won in Lexington for the first time since Stoops’ first season as Kentucky’s coach in 2013. The two teams will no longer play each other every season with the SEC ditching its two division format. In the 12 years both teams were members of the SEC East, Kentucky recorded a 7-5 record against Missouri.
This story was originally published October 14, 2023 at 10:54 PM.
