The final two chapters will shape the story of Kentucky football’s 2023 season
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Game day: No. 8 Alabama 49, Kentucky 21
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Alabama football game at Kroger Field.
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Alabama is still Alabama.
Kentucky is still Kentucky.
With all the mega-changes in college football, from NIL to conference realignment to alternative uniforms to expanded playoffs to streaming platforms to Pat McAfee’s wardrobe to the transfer portal, some things remain the same.
And just when you arrived home from watching No. 8 Alabama steamroll Kentucky 49-21 on Saturday — I blame UK’s ghastly gray uniforms — you flipped on the tube in time to see No. 1 Georgia do to No. 10 Ole Miss what the Bulldogs did to the Wildcats last month. October 7: Georgia 51, Kentucky 13. November 11: Georgia 52, Ole Miss 17.
Things are tough all over. UK’s Mark Stoops and Ole Miss’s Lane Kiffin aren’t alone. Ask Clark Lea at Vanderbilt, whose Commodores were pummeled 47-6 by South Carolina on Saturday. (Vandy hasn’t won since Sept. 2.) Ask Zach Arnett at Mississippi State, drubbed 51-10 by Texas A&M. Ask Sam Pittman at Arkansas, whose Razorbacks followed a dramatic win at Florida by being pancaked 48-10 at home by Auburn. Ask Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, whose Vols were smacked 36-7 at Missouri.
“There’s not a soul feeling sorry for you,” Stoops said Saturday after his team quickly fell into a 21-0 hole and lost by 28.
True. BBN won’t be mailing out sympathy cards. It’s performing a wellness check on its own head coach. The Cats are now 6-4 overall, 3-4 in the SEC. Win the last two games and UK’s regular season ends a tolerable 8-4 overall and 4-4 in the SEC. Splitting the last two mixes the bag. Drop the last two and UK limps into a bowl game 6-6, having lost six of its last seven.
Lose the last two and grumbling becomes griping. Critics multiply. Main question: Is the program going backward? After all, a 6-6 regular season record would be UK’s worst since 2015. A 3-5 mark would be the Cats’ second straight losing record in conference play.
To be sure, avoiding a crash landing won’t be easy. Road dates await, starting Saturday at South Carolina. Shane Beamer’s team needs to beat Kentucky and Clemson the following Saturday to be bowl-eligible. Remember, the Gamecocks beat the Will Levis-less Cats 24-14 last year at Kroger Field. UK then finishes Nov. 25 at Louisville. The Cards have lost the last four Governor’s Cups. But they have a new and better coach in Jeff Brohm. And, oh yeah, they’re currently flying high at 9-1.
My advice: Forget last Saturday. Winners of 27 straight, Georgia is continuing domination. Alabama is continuing improvement. That dynamic duo stands above the rest of the nation’s toughest league. Kentucky hasn’t closed its gap on either — the gap may be widening, in fact — but that’s a concern better left for later. Matters more pressing demand immediate attention.
Defensive improvement tops the wish list. Apologies are in order. I did coordinator Brad White a disservice by assuming he’d keep his unit humming despite significant departures. White is good, but not that good. Kentucky has dropped from 12th to 49th in total defense, 11th to 60th in scoring defense.
South Carolina is 4-6 but gunslinger quarterback Spencer Rattler can throw the ball a little. He’s 14th nationally in passing yards per game, 29th in pass efficiency. Meanwhile, Kentucky’s pass defense ranks 89th. Open Alabama receivers scored on Jalen Milroe missiles covering 26, 40 and 26 yards.
One more thing: UK is now 111th in third-down defense. “It’s something we’ve got to continue to look at,” White said in Saturday’s post-mortem. “We’re trying everything.”
Offensively, as UK’s passing game has improved, its run game has stagnated. Falling so far behind so quickly on the scoreboard has ripped up Liam Coen’s playbook. And when the defense has managed a stop, the offense hasn’t capitalized. “We’re not playing complementary football,” Coen said Saturday.
Stoops said Saturday he’s never questioned his team’s fight, just its execution. Fight is a requirement these last two weeks. The book isn’t closed. Not yet. And how this season is viewed won’t have as much to do with how Kentucky fared against Georgia and Alabama as how it fares against South Carolina and Louisville.
