UK football stock watch: Special teams blunders among issues in loss to Vanderbilt

Kentucky football’s roller coaster season found a new dip in a 20-13 loss to Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Was the performance, which UK coach Mark Stoops acknowledged was frustratingly reminiscent of the September loss to South Carolina, a sign of things to come or another temporary setback? The weekly UK football stock watch looks at what is rising and falling for the Wildcats after Vanderbilt, pinpointing several issues that must be addressed to return to the form shown in the upset win at Ole Miss.

STOCK DOWN: Special teams

Stoops might have jinxed himself during the bye week when he said on his radio show reporters never ask about the special teams when things are going well. Even if we ignore the numerous questions about how good kicker Alex Raynor has been this season, that bravado looked silly after the miscues on display against Vanderbilt.

Kentucky left four points on the board due to bad snaps or holds on a 20-yard field goal attempt and an extra point in the second half. The snap on the field goal looked fine, but holder Wilson Berry could not handle it cleanly. On the next opportunity for the kicking unit to redeem McLaughlin’s snap was low, and Berry again could not get the ball placed in time for Raynor to even attempt the kick.

Had Kentucky turned its last possession into a touchdown, the pressure would have been high on the field goal operation to convert what would have been a game-tying extra point, but that scenario never presented itself, thanks in part to another special teams miscue when a 16-yard Barion Brown punt return that would have given Kentucky possession at midfield was negated by a block in the back penalty against freshman linebacker Steven Soles away from the return.

“Very uncharacteristic and frustrating,” Stoops said. “I felt like Barion had the big kickoff return. He’s going to be kicking himself because I felt like one cut and he might’ve had a touchdown there. That is ifs and buts and I’m still grateful he got it out to the 50. And then on the punt return he got a great return and a big spark when we needed it and we had a foolish penalty.

“There is no excuse for it. It’s a young man that plays very hard and is a freshman and is away from the ball and it was a foolish penalty. And a very costly one.”

Stoops’ pre-Vanderbilt praise of the special teams was warranted. Outside of inconsistent punting, coordinator Jay Boulware’s units have generally been a positive this season.

But Kentucky fans need no reminder of the 2022 season when persistent snapping and holding issues spiraled out of control. This week will be huge for the field goal unit reestablishing confidence so the Vanderbilt mistakes aren’t on the mind for the first kick at Florida.

STOCK DOWN: Red zone offense

Penalties were an issue for Kentucky throughout the game, but none was more frustrating than the false start on second-and-goal inside the 1-yard line in the third quarter. That miscue increased the heat on Stoops’ decision to decline a Vanderbilt offsides penalty the play before that would have resulted in first-and-goal at the 3-yard line.

Back-to-back failed attempts at the end zone increased the frustration, and the disaster on the ensuing field goal attempt ended up being a fatal blow to Kentucky’s chances of winning the game.

The Wildcats now rank 98th nationally in red zone touchdown percentage (55.6). Kentucky has scored just four touchdowns in four SEC games.

“Just got to have overall consistency to finish drives,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said, “and it starts with me.”

During his postgame news conference, Stoops questioned whether Hamdan should have just called a quarterback sneak rather than lining up in shotgun formation on the second-and-goal play that resulted in the false start. Hamdan acknowledged that in hindsight that might have been a better call but said the play they tried to run was a base play in the offense.

Raynor’s perfect 11-for-11 mark on field goal attempts this season has eased some of the red zone struggles, but it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where UK reaches bowl eligibility in a difficult second half without converting more positive drives into touchdowns.

STOCK UP: D’Eryk Jackson

No UK player will walk away from the Vanderbilt performance pleased with the result, but one of the team’s senior leaders can at least hold his head high.

Jackson, who has been overshadowed by Georgia linebacker transfer Jamon Dumas-Johnson since Johnson arrived on campus in January, provided two of the biggest plays in the game.

He made an acrobatic catch of an interception — Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia’s first interception of the season — in the first half that ended a promising Commodores drive. With the assistance of defensive lineman Octavious Oxendine, Jackson also gave Kentucky one last chance to tie the game with a sack of Pavia on third-and-9 with 3:41 left in the game.

In a sign of how frustrating Kentucky’s night was though, the Wildcats did not convert either big play from Jackson into points.

“I lead by example in how I play on the field,” Jackson said. “You can talk to people, but you really just have to come in and everybody has to do their job, and we will be straight.”

Next game

Kentucky at Florida

When: 7:45 p.m. Saturday

TV: SEC Network

Records: Kentucky 3-3 (1-3 SEC), Florida 3-3 (1-2 SEC)

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Series: Florida leads 53-21

Last meeting: Kentucky won 33-14 on Sept. 30, 2023, in Lexington

This story was originally published October 14, 2024 at 6:45 AM.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

(859) 414-6776

Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription