Watching this Kentucky Wildcats football team build a lead and then pee down their leg in the third quarter is getting old. The offense was clicking on all cylinders and the lead was 27-17. After stopping Ole Miss and getting the ball in their territory, the Wildcats had a chance to go up 34-17 and put the game away.
Instead, the offense went three-and-out four straight times and Ole Miss took the lead. The ‘Cats then drove 95 yards in the fourth quarter to score and retake the lead. But they left too much time on the clock for the high-powered Ole Miss offense and they lost to an Ole Miss touchdown with seconds left on the clock.
There are many things we can point to that went wrong last night, all of them are frustrating. But the one thing that really sticks on to me is on the final drive when Benny Snell was in the Wildcat, the offense failed to run the play clock all the way down to one second before snapping the ball. Twice they snapped it with about ten seconds left. Ole Miss scored to win the game with about ten seconds left.
Once again, simple errors that any coaching staff worth its salt would have thought of before it actually happened.
Tweet of the Day
Cats are 6-3, which is really good for this program...but they have 2 losses to 4-5 teams at Home. Deflating and frustrating
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) November 4, 2017
That about sums it up for me.
Asked Gran if he'd change any play calling up 10 with ball at Ole Miss 49. "To say you'd do exact same thing again would be ridiculous."
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_SEC) November 5, 2017
Eddie Gran continues to call great plays, build a lead, and then play not to lose instead of going for the throat. C’mon man. Be better. Your players play too hard for you to go vanilla and lose it for them. Let them win it.
Quickies
It’s year five of secondary guru Mark Stoops and the secondary stinks | SEC Country- The secondary was picked as one of the best units in the SEC. Yet game after game we watch them get torched, out-muscled, and run around out of position. I don’t want to hear one more word about any of those “NFL ready” dudes. 113th in the country in pass defense. Give me a break.
Last second luck runs out | Lexington Herald Leader- For the second time this season, the Cats lose a close one when they didn’t have to do so. The same thing happened against the Florida Gators: play calling stalled and the defensive secondary was out of position and flat-out got beat. No excuses, these losses are on the coaching staff and the secondary. Period.
Raw video of Stoops press conference | WDRB- Two things that Stoops said really bothered me: 1). He said of that series when they were up 27-17 and were in Ole Miss territory, they called a run play on third down to set up going for it on fourth down. Instead, they gained minimal yardage and had to punt. Here’s an idea! Call a play on third down to get a first down so you don’t have to worry about going for it on fourth down! 2). He went through all of the coverages they tried with the secondary and none of them worked.
Offense collapsed in the third quarter | KSR- Here’s the quote that drives me absolutely crazy:
On third and short, the Ole Miss defense dialed up a blitz in the A-gap, right where Snell was running. Mark Stoops said after the game they planned on going for it on fourth down, but the tackle for loss right up the gut pushed back the Cats too far to take the risk.
Call a play to get a first down not to set up to go for it on fourth down!!!!
Season outlook changes after Ole Miss loss | SEC Country- The Wildcats had a great chance for a big time bowl game but that seems to be gone with last night’s loss. It’s disappointing.
No. 6 UK Volleyball welcomes South Carolina | UK Athletics- First serve is set for 1:30 PM. The ladies look to keep rolling in the SEC.
Big Ten busts on Saturday | ESPN- With Ohio State and Penn State both losing in upsets on the road, it looks as if the Big Ten lost any shot of the playoff unless Wisconsin runs the table and some other teams near the top lose.
Justin Verlander marries Kate Upton |ESPN- He won the World Series for the first time and married a model. Pretty good week for Verlander.
Sooners now in playoffs in latest projections | CBS- After defeating Oklahoma State in an epic shootout, the Sooners look to be in the college football playoff.
SEC Power Rankings | Saturdays Down South- Kentucky is still hanging around the 7 and 8 range.
Kentucky probably isn’t the eighth best team in the SEC. They again played even with a mediocre opponent, and this week, the Cats got them burned. So they have home losses to the No. 10 and No. 14-ranked teams in the league. That said, they are bowl eligible and still could/should win seven or eight games — which means they’re either at the top of the not-so-good SEC or the bottom of the good SEC.
Thor Ragnarok rules box office | Collider- No surprise here, the Marvel comic book movie is getting rave reviews and it’s earning big. I haven’t wanted to see a comic book movie in a while but I do want to see this one.