Mark Stoops’ very bad week is on the brink of becoming a very bad year
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Game day: Missouri 38, No. 24 Kentucky 21
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Missouri football game at Kroger Field.
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This is all you need to know about Kentucky’s 2023 football homecoming:
On a rainy night in the Bluegrass, the returning UK alumni watched the No. 24 Wildcats accumulate more penalty yards (122) than passing yards (120).
Loser of seven of its prior eight games against Kentucky, Missouri (6-1, 2-1 SEC East) delivered an emphatic rejoinder Saturday night by whipping mistake-plagued UK 38-21 before a Kroger Field crowd of 61,654.
Continuing the sloppy play that has, so far, largely defined the 2023 Kentucky football season, the Wildcats (5-2, 2-2 SEC) committed a whopping 14 penalties, turned the ball over three times and set up two Missouri touchdowns and a field goal with subpar plays on special teams.
“The discipline, the lack of discipline, is really something that’s standing out and bothering me,” a subdued UK coach Mark Stoops said afterward. “It starts with me. I’m the head coach and we’ve got to get the discipline under control.”
Added Kentucky’s Eli Cox: “(You) can’t beat anyone until you stop beating yourself.”
It wasn’t just that Kentucky committed a lot of penalties for a lot of yards. The Wildcats continually incurred infractions at the most inopportune times.
With UK down 20-14 early in the second half, a holding call on Cox, the Cats center, negated what would have been a 26-yard pass completion to Dane Key.
On the drive that yielded Missouri’s go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter, a pass interference penalty on UK’s Andru Phillips gave the Tigers a first down on a third-and-2 from their own 38.
After Missouri scored to go ahead 26-21 on the second play of the fourth quarter, the Tigers opted to go for a two-point conversion. UK stopped a Missouri pass attempt, but Kentucky defensive lineman Kahlil Saunders was called both for roughing the passer and unsportsmanlike conduct on the play.
Given a do-over, Mizzou running back Cody Schrader cashed in the two-point attempt by bulling into the end zone for a 28-21 Tigers edge.
“(It was a) silly penalty, stemmed from a previous play and guys getting their emotions (running high),” UK defensive coordinator Brad White said. “(UK players have) got to understand, sometimes, turning the other cheek isn’t a sign of weakness. You are not getting punked (by not responding).”
The game’s turning point came earlier, with Kentucky up 14-0 and 11:38 left in the first half.
On fourth-and-10 from the UK 39-yard line, Mizzou head man Eli Drinkwitz did a Hal Mumme homage by calling a fake punt. Punter Luke Bauer looped a rainbow pass that Missouri receiver Marquis Johnson soared above Kentucky cornerback Phillips to claim. Johnson then bounded into the end zone — and, in so doing, completely flipped the game’s momentum.
“One of those plays that feels like it punches you right in the gut,” Stoops said.
Among the other issues that arose from UK special teams, three straight meager punts by Kentucky’s Wilson Berry in the second quarter gave Missouri short fields that the Tigers turned into 17 points.
Meanwhile, a familiar 2023 Kentucky football bugaboo — dropped passes — was again on display Saturday night. True freshman Anthony Brown-Stephens dropped a pair of Devin Leary throws that, had caught, would have gone for chunk plays. (To the credit of Brown-Stephens, he rallied to catch a four-yard touchdown pass from Leary that gave Kentucky a 21-20 lead with 3:31 left in the third quarter.)
With drops again playing a significant role, Leary put up another pedestrian passing line, going 14 of 27 through the air for 120 yards with two TDs and two picks.
From Saturday to Saturday was not a stellar eight-day stretch for Stoops. Two Saturday nights ago, the UK head man presided over an all-systems failure as Kentucky was strafed 51-13 at No. 1 Georgia.
On Monday night, an unartful Stoops reply to a challenging caller on the UK coach’s radio show turned into a multitiered controversy (“Pony up!”).
Then came the mistake-laden meltdown against Mizzou.
“This is not fun, it is a tough loss, especially when you have a team at home and we don’t play our best,” Stoops said. “But we have an opportunity to bounce back.”
After an open date, Kentucky will end its season against No. 19 Tennessee, at Mississippi State (where UK has not won since 2008), vs. No. 11 Alabama, at South Carolina and at No. 14 Louisville.
There are some winnable games on that list, but not one in which the Wildcats — who need one more win to become bowl-eligibile — seem likely to be favored.
For historically pigskin-challenged UK, the turnaround in the Stoops era began with the Wildcats taking control of a trio of SEC East rivals. Eventually, the Cats beat South Carolina seven of eight (from 2014 through 2021), Vanderbilt seven of eight (2014 through 2021) and Missouri seven of eight (2015 through 2022).
Now, after Mizzou spoiled Kentucky’s 2023 homecoming, it means that all three of South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Missouri have come to Lexington over the past two seasons and won.
UK having lost control of its home field against teams it has so recently dominated, makes one wonder if the upward arc in Kentucky’s football fortunes has begun to flip.
This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 4:14 AM.
