Want some good UK football news? At least it’s obvious what Mark Stoops must fix.
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Game day: Florida 34, Kentucky 10
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Florida football game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.
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If you are looking for the silver lining in what has been a dark cloud of a Kentucky football season, here it is:
It is supremely obvious what Mark Stoops and his brain trust must get fixed before the 2021 season rolls around if Kentucky is going to regain the positive momentum it has lost in 2020.
UK desperately — and that may not be a strong enough adverb — needs an infusion of dynamic, offensive playmaking if it is going to return to playing winning football.
Kentucky’s lack of playmakers who can stress high-level SEC opponents was again on stark display Saturday in a 34-10 loss to No. 6 Florida before a socially distanced crowd of 14,453 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Facing one of the most high-octane offenses in college football in Kyle Trask, Kyle Pitts, Kadarious Toney and the Gators, UK controlled the first half with a sturdy, ball-control attack.
Of four Kentucky possessions in half one, three of them reached the Florida red zone.
Out of the 30 minutes of half one, the Wildcats possessed the ball a whopping 23:23.
Yet all that Kentucky ball possession, those three drives to the Florida 20 or better, yielded only 10 points.
The reason was the same issue that plagued UK in the first half last week of what became an embarrassing 63-3 loss at Alabama.
In that game, Kentucky three times drove it inside the Bama 25, only to settle for three points.
Simply put, with Lynn Bowden drawing a paycheck from the Miami Dolphins, UK does not have a playmaker who can be counted on to generate game-altering moments.
Against top-tier SEC competition, Kentucky’s lack of dynamic playmaking manifests itself in myriad ways.
Part of it is the inability to finish drives that sabotaged UK vs. both No. 1 Alabama and No. 6 Florida.
But there is more to it.
Against Florida, Kentucky’s power running game and veteran offensive line gave the Wildcats eight plays of third-and-3 or less.
Amazingly, UK converted exactly one of those third-and-shorts.
One reason Kentucky kept getting stuffed is the Florida defense could play straight “downhill” because UK has no one who has shown the consistent ability to break big plays — either on the ground or through the air — against top-level SEC speed.
Kentucky threw for only 62 yards against a Florida secondary that has seemed vulnerable this season. The Wildcats threw three interceptions, two by starter Terry Wilson, one from backup Joey Gatewood.
“We have to be able to convert,” UK’s Stoops said on a postgame video news conference. “We’ve got to complete some passes. We are trying to throw the ball. We are not efficient.”
The result of Kentucky’s season without playmaking has been an all-out offensive slog.
UK left Gainesville with 221 total yards. It is the sixth time in the past seven games that Kentucky has failed to amass 300 yards of total offense.
Over their past five games, the Wildcats have tallied more than one touchdown in a game exactly once — in a 38-35 shootout victory over winless Vanderbilt.
Otherwise, it’s been one touchdown (20-10 loss at Missouri), no touchdowns (14-3 loss to Georgia), no touchdowns (63-3 loss at No. 1 Alabama) and one TD (Saturday at Florida).
With only the regular-season finale left against South Carolina, Kentucky (3-6 SEC) is now searching for offensive cornerstones to build upon for 2021.
Redshirt sophomore tight end Keaton Upshaw is showing signs of developing into a weapon.
Upshaw followed up his three-catch performance at Alabama with another three receptions vs. Florida. Included was UK’s sole TD, a 4-yard scoring pass from Wilson in which the 6-foot-6, 246-pound Upshaw made a competitive catch.
“I made a good play on it,” Upshaw told the UK Radio Network, correctly. “Throughout the year, I’ve just built my confidence up each game. I feel like I know what type of player I am who can help this team win. I feel like I can make big plays and do whatever I need to do.”
In redshirt sophomore running backs Christopher Rodriguez and Kavosiey Smoke, UK could potentially have an effective Mr. Inside (Rodriguez) and Mr. Outside (Smoke) combination.
Otherwise, Kentucky needs some home run hitters, especially at wide receiver.
Whether those come from high school recruiting, the junior-college ranks or via what is expected to be the more liberalized NCAA transfer rules, Stoops and Co. have to add playmaking to the 2021 Kentucky roster.
The absence of playmaking is why a 2020 season that began with a “new Kentucky” vibe has ended up in the dreaded zone of an “old Kentucky” feel.
Simply put, unless UK adds dynamic playmaking ability to its roster, it will not much matter who is playing quarterback or even calling the plays in 2021.
This story was originally published November 28, 2020 at 5:49 PM.
