Kentucky had a chance to build hope vs. Louisville. Instead, it just added more questions.
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Game day: Louisville 41, Kentucky 14
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Louisville football game at Kroger Field.
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The outcome of Kentucky football’s annual rivalry matchup with Louisville was never going to completely erase the bad taste of a disappointing 2024 season.
But there was on paper at least a chance Saturday for Mark Stoops to build some momentum heading into a pivotal offseason one week after his program’s eight-year bowl streak was ended with the loss at Texas. By starting freshmen Cutter Boley at quarterback, Jamarion Wilcox at running back and Willie Rodriguez at tight end there was a path to offering fans reason to hope heading into the winter.
Instead, Boley completed just six of 15 passes for 48 yards and two interceptions before his game ended in the third quarter on a helmet-to-helmet hit that was ruled targeting, Wilcox lost two fumbles, one of which was returned for a touchdown, and Rodriguez did not catch a single pass on the way to 41-14 loss.
With the latest in a growing list of embarrassing performances across the last three seasons, UK’s five-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup rivalry followed its bowl streak into the rearview mirror. Rather than being able to point to an exciting nucleus of young players, Stoops was left with even more pressure to fix a roster set to lose at least 11 starters.
“It doesn’t diminish anything, because we feel like there’s some very good young talent there,” Stoops said after the loss. “It obviously needs to be blended with other great players. There’s not any one person that could make a massive difference.
“And some of our deficiencies showed up again today. When you get something going, maybe give up a sack, or give up a couple of the turnovers, but we feel like there’s still really good pieces in place.”
With a $44 million buyout, Stoops’ job is safe at Kentucky as long as he wants to stay, and he has dismissed persistent rumors that he was considering retirement in recent weeks.
After the loss at Texas, Stoops confirmed he planned to retain offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan despite the Wildcats failing to score more than 20 points against a Power Four conference opponent this season. That move would at least provide the offensive continuity that has been missing amid four straight offseasons of offensive coordinator changes, but continuity won’t matter much if the roster is depleted.
Stoops has been open about pursuing at least three offensive line starters in the transfer portal. Additions at wide receiver and running back could be needed, too, depending on which current Wildcats enter the NFL draft or portal.
Boley remains the quarterback of the future, but his struggles against Louisville make it hard to count on him being the guaranteed starter next season, and former starter Brock Vandagriff looks unlikely to return. Backup Gavin Wimsatt at least threw for two touchdowns after Vandagriff’s injury, but he has proven to be limited as a passer throughout his four-year college career.
Defensive coordinator Brad White has been repeatedly tied to the coordinator opening at Florida State in recent weeks. Even if White returns to UK, his side of the ball faces heavy turnover as well with at least six starters gone.
Perhaps even more worrying than the personnel holes is the downward trend in the program since the advent of the transfer portal and NIL endorsements. Kentucky is now 12-17 since Stoops signed his last contract extension in November 2022. Included in that stretch are multiple losses to Vanderbilt and South Carolina as well as 2024 defeats by Louisville, Auburn and Florida.
“The world has changed drastically since I entered college, and the way you go about building a culture and a program has changed drastically,” senior captain Eli Cox said before the Louisville game, pointing to the stability that had been key in building offensive line success in particular.. “It was out of the norm for guys to transfer in or transfer out when I first started college. … I think it goes for the whole program as a whole. You were able to recruit guys that match that culture, and you weren’t caught in playing this portal catch-up game that we’re stuck in nowadays.”
Cox did not pretend Kentucky’s issues were limited to a 4-8 record in 2024, the program’s fewest wins since Stoops’ first UK team went 2-10 in 2013.
“I think there’s been a drop off and a dip in the product on the field starting really kind of last two, three years, starting in 2022,” Cox said. “And that’s just something we have to learn to adapt to in the world of college football. How can we go about bringing in talented guys, but also guys that have bought into the culture of Kentucky being a blue collar program, being a nasty blue collar operation that Coach Stoops has built the success of this program on? Just finding a way to get back to that while also bringing in talented guys as well. So it’s a multifaceted issue.
“It’s not an overnight fix, but I think this program is in great hands, and has been for 12 years. So I’m excited to see what we can do once I move on.”
How many fans share Cox’s optimism is questionable. Stoops will get some benefit of the doubt as the program’s all-time winningest coach, but his willingness to go public with concerns about NIL fundraising and coach burnout have not helped win public relations battles during the downturn.
Still, after the Louisville loss Stoops pointed to the quick turnaround of an SEC rival like South Carolina, which knocked off Clemson on Saturday to finish the regular season at 9-3 after missing a bowl a year ago, as evidence the 2024 losing record is not a sign of more struggles to come. Of course, duplicating South Carolina’s turnaround involves hitting on a higher percentage of what is expected to be a large transfer portal class than UK coaches did a year ago.
“You have to make sure that you have the resources to move forward in this landscape, to really make a big jump, and I really feel like that’s in place,” Stoops said. “And so we worked hard to get some things, to get some pieces in place, to build a very good football team.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2024 at 4:52 PM.
