Kentucky Wildcats fall at Alabama: Postgame Thread and Takeaways

Give Kentucky credit: With a JUCO quarterback making his first college road start, a defense that had been abused by seemingly anything resembling a football team, and a team with only four starters in the entire starting offense and defense, these young Cats put up a great fight at No. 1 Alabama.

Unfortunately, fight will only take you so far against a national title favorite. Talent, depth and many other things are also needed to even be competitive in Tuscaloosa, something UK was able to do for two quarters, but ultimately lost 34-6.

Here’s some quick takeaways:

• Credit UK to not folding and fighting throughout this game, something we didn’t see in a similar situation when the Cats laid down at Florida and got walloped. They still got manhandled here, but the Tide have been rolling over just about everyone in their path. UK has a lot of work to do, but based on the last two games, effort is not something to worry about, which was far from true in the first two games.
• The defense is still improving. Between the last two quarters vs New Mexico State, the entire game vs South Carolina, and the first two quarters at Alabama, the defense allowed just 27 points (offense gave Alabama a defensive score in second quarter). That’s a massive improvement from what we saw over the first 10 quarters this season, and it’s clear Mark Stoops taking defensive play-calling away from D.J. Eliot has made a major defense.
• UK is still committing too many turnovers. The Cats came into this game with 12 turnovers and committed two more in this game, giving them 14 for the year. That’s far too many for a Division I program, let alone an SEC school. This is an area Stoops has to find a way for his team to improve in if they’re going to win any more SEC games this season.

What were your thoughts/takeaways from this game?