Wildcats Football: Disappointments and surprises so far

While nothing will ever overtake the basketball program, the University of Kentucky football team is showing a lot of promise this year under head coach Mark Stoops.

The Wildcats are winning games they would not have won the last few years, but they are also a highly inconsistent football team. This is what has made this season surprising and disappointing at the same time.

The biggest achievement of the Kentucky Wildcats football team this season is their solid record in the SEC. Kentucky has failed to win more =than two games in the tough conference since Mark Stoops was hired in 2013, but they have already tied that win total only halfway through the season.

Kentucky's first SEC victory this year came when they defeated South Carolina in a tough defensive battle 17-10 on September 24. A dominating rushing performance helped the Wildcats defeat South Carolina for the third straight season.

Kentucky added to their Southeastern Conference win total when they narrowly defeated Vanderbilt on October 8. Kentucky had total control with a 14-point lead at halftime, but they let the Commodores back in the game with a terrible second half.

This bad performance late in the game would have caused the Wildcats the game last season, but they showed some toughness by holding Vanderbilt to only 10 points in the second half.

A struggling offense is not something Kentucky had to worry about early in the season. They put up points with ease in their opening week loss against Southern Miss. Their high scoring affair with New Mexico State was also one of the most exciting games in college football this year.

If Kentucky wants to keep up their winning ways in the SEC, then they are going to have to find the offensive rhythm that was able to score nearly 100 points in their games against Southern Miss and New Mexico State.

While nobody is going to complain about Kentucky's 3-3 record through six games, all of their wins have come against teams with losing records. It is an encouraging sign to see the Wildcats finally beat bad football teams, but it is also disappointing to know they have been unable to contend with great teams.

Kentucky lost their two SEC games by a combined 66 points when they were dominated by Florida and Alabama. The only thing encouraging about these two losses is that they came on the road against two of the top teams in the conference.

It is tough to judge this Kentucky football team based on their first six games. They are beating the teams with less talent while also getting easily beat by much better teams.

The inconsistent offense is the biggest disappointment of this team, but the season can't be accurately judged for a few more weeks. Kentucky is too good to lose their next two games against Mississippi State and Missouri.

They also need to show they can play a competitive game against Georgia and Tennessee. If the Wildcats can do all of that, then they will have a season every fan can appreciate.

They will also make a bowl game for the first time since 2010.