How the Tennessee loss still offers hope for a Kentucky football turnaround
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Game day: No. 21 Tennessee 33, Kentucky 27
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Tennessee football game at Kroger Field.
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Sometimes the easiest narrative is not the correct one.
It would be simple to look at Kentucky’s 33-27 loss to Tennessee that extended the current losing streak to three games as the latest in a long line of examples of the Wildcats letting one loss spiral into two or three. But to buy into that theory would be to ignore the way the game actually played out.
Considering Tennessee needed just five plays to score a touchdown on its first drive, failing to convert a fourth down at its own 34-yard line on the next possession could have spelled the end of the game if Kentucky really was a team just one piece of adversity from folding. Instead, Kentucky’s defense stepped up enough to limit the Volunteers to a field goal. Tennessee never trailed in the game, but Kentucky was able to rally from the early 10-0 deficit to gain two second half possessions where it could have taken the lead.
The fact that Kentucky failed in those situations suggests this was a loss that centered on a lack of execution, primarily in failing to stop Tennessee’s rushing attack, rather that one that resulted from the inability to handle adversity.
“It hurts walking away from this game with a loss, but within the building players really stepped it up and took a leadership role,” quarterback Devin Leary said. “That was really cool to see, but at the end of the day guys are really beating themselves up on this loss.”
If Kentucky is to salvage something more than an uninspiring bowl berth from this season, that resiliency will be needed next week in Starkville. Mississippi State has struggled for most of the season, but Kentucky has not won in Starkville since 2008 and Mark Stoops has yet to win a road game at an SEC West school in 10 seasons at Kentucky.
Resiliency alone will not stop the bleeding though. Thankfully for Kentucky, the passing attack finally rounded into form against Tennessee, offering hope for the type of offensive balance that will be needed over the final month of the regular season.
“Could have been better, but I really feel like we’re starting to click,” wide receiver Dane Key said. “I feel like we saw it at practice. A lot of excitement at practice and a lot of energy. I feel like that’s really what helped us play so good tonight.
“That’s really the main goal for next week: Keep that energy, transfer it over to next week and just keep building off that.”
Leary posted his best game as a Wildcat, completing 28 of 39 passes for 372 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Key continued his recent uptick in play after a disappointing first half with seven catches for 113 yards and one touchdown. Fellow sophomore receiver Barion Brown added five catches for 58 yards and one touchdown highlighted by two difficult grabs in tight coverage.
Kentucky’s rushing attack struggled against Tennessee, but running back Ray Davis has done enough already to feel confident about his role moving forward.
“We felt really good going into this one,” Leary said. “For us in the pass game, it was only a matter of time for us. We were just a couple plays away, a couple clicks away from an execution standpoint of doing a little bit of what we did today.”
Three of Kentucky’s final four games are on the road. The only home game is against No. 9 Alabama, a team Kentucky has beaten just twice in 41 tries.
Kentucky should be favored in games at Mississippi State and South Carolina given those teams’ struggles, but neither can be considered a sure win. Beating both those teams would get Kentucky to seven wins and another mid-level bowl game. That outcome is unlikely to excite the fan base but would at least help continue the development of young players heading into the offseason.
Beating Alabama or archrival Louisville, which has hopes of a New Year’s Six bowl berth after a 7-1 start to the Jeff Brohm era, would change the perception of the season. After three consecutive losses, winning either game looks unlikely, but the possibility increased with the passing success found against Tennessee.
“It is very encouraging because they worked hard and you are starting to see some growth, and that I’m happy with,” Stoops said. “We have just got to continue to work hard. I mean, this is a difficult league, in case you didn’t know.
“Our guys understand that, and they need to continue to have the same approach. And we will get better.”
Kentucky needs to look back only two years ago for proof a three-game losing streak does not have to derail a season. The 2021 Wildcats lost three straight after a 6-0 start then rallied for the program’s second 10-win season since 1977.
The remaining schedule is more difficult this year than in 2021 when the regular season closed with Vanderbilt, New Mexico State and a Louisville team that finished with a losing record. The improved passing game will need to be supplemented by a return to form from a defense that has surrendered at least 33 points in three straight games.
But for now at least, there is not reason to worry this team does not have the mentality needed to right the ship.
“I think the whole group was resilient and showed some resolve,” Stoops said. “… That’s what I want us to look like, with that. I mean, I would like us to make enough plays and be more detailed, and us as coaches find those few plays that can make a difference in a game like that.
“But I’m proud of the team.”
Next game
Kentucky at Mississippi State
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 5-3 (2-3 SEC), Mississippi State 4-4 (1-4)
Series: Tied 25-25
Last meeting: Kentucky won 27-17 on Oct. 15, 2022, in Lexington
This story was originally published October 29, 2023 at 6:45 AM.
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