Mark Stoops "got out of his character" with a fourth-down gamble that beat Ole Miss. (UK Athletics Photo)
Lane Kiffin has put some disappointing losses on Kentucky during his coaching career but this time it was Kentucky rallying to beat No. 6 Ole Miss 20-17 Saturday.
Kiffin admitted it was a “disappointing day,” especially after the Rebels opened the game with an easy touchdown drive and got “sloppy” in the second quarter.
“We started playing better on both sides in the third quarter and the game came down at the end with us having a chance to win it in every phase. We stop them, get the ball up by four and we go three and out and punt it back. We end up getting them to fourth down and they throw a go route,” Kiffin said.
That go route came on a fourth down and eight play at the UK 20-yard line with about four minutes left and went to Barion Brown for 63 yards. That set up a weird game-winning touchdown run when backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt fumbled but tight end Josh Kattus caught it in midair and scored.
However, Kiffin — and probably most UK fans — was surprised when Stoops did not have UK punt.
“I have to credit Stoops. That’s not anything he’s probably ever done in his life. He got out of his character with three and a half minutes left,” Kiffin said. “I commend him for doing that.
“I’m sure the ESPN percentage had us 98 percent winning at that point. Good throw and good play by them.”
Ole Miss hit its desperation fourth down play after UK’s score to get in position for a game-tying 48-yard field goal try that was not even close.
“Ended on a big win for them, but very discouraging and disappointing, especially on the 11 a.m. kick. It’s 3 o’clock, so you got all day to sit around and deal with this with a game that could have gone our way in so many different ways. We didn’t make the plays and we didn’t close them out,” Kiffin said. “We had the ball up by a score and had the chance to not make it come down to a play.”
Kiffin was confident Ole Miss would stop UK’s fourth down play and turn its 17-13 lead into at least 20-13 lead with a field goal or 24-13 lead with a touchdown.
“I thought that was going to springboard us into a two-possession type of win,” the Ole Miss coach said. “Since we had been playing good defense, we needed a play like that to spark us. I thought the crowd was great at that point, so I really thought it was going to be one of those games that starts really close for a while and we finish them off, but we didn’t do that.
“We had every opportunity to do that with the ball in our hands and up by four, but we went three and out.”
Kentucky was routed 31-7 by South Carolina but regrouped to lose only 13-12 to then No. 1 Georgia and now beat No. 6 Ole Miss.
Can Ole Miss regroup after opening SEC play with a home loss?
“All of a sudden, our program is terrible when they miss a field goal or don’t get a two-point conversion at the end of the game. I wouldn’t tell you that we have all the answers. We have seen a lot of these where we have won them and all kinds of things can happen there,” Kiffin said. “If they do a go route on fourth and seven or we have a great kicker and he misses or if our defense gives up a touchdown … it could have gone either way so I’m not going to sit up here and say if it goes the other way, then all of the sudden we got it all figured out.
“I would have said the same thing about third downs or penalties. I’m not going to overreact in a loss like I don’t overreact in a tight win or a tight loss.”
8 Responses
I predicted a loss and I’m glad I was wrong
It’s been the strangest season I’ve ever seen.
Week 1 The lightning game.
Week 2 The embarrassing loss to South Carolina.
Week 3. We barely lose to number 1 team in the nation.
Week 4. Beat a cupcake.
Week 5. After going all season without a fumble recovery, we get one to fall into our arms in the endzone and beat number 5 in the nation.
Nobody expected a Kentucky win in Oxford. Yeah, that fourth down call was desperate, but it was the ONLY chance we had at winning. Yeah, we got lucky on that fumble recovery. Stoops FINALLY played to win and did win. If he had gone for it on that last fourth down in the Georgia game, who knows what might have happened. Now don’t sleep on Vanderbilt.
good points Barry
It’s way too quick to give too many hurrahs to Stoops who has hampered the UK offense for a dozen years!
I’m glad we won, thrilled we tried and made 4th & 7. Many teams try it and some make it when in that situation. It’s the only real choice when playing against an explosive offense.
Stoops lost my confidence in him this season after the 2022 and 2023 debacles. One game does not clear the long list of issues which were caused by control of the OC.
If Wimsatt is going it play, out him in WITH Brock instead of sending him in when everyone in the stadium knows the next play will be a run. Give those snaps to Wilcox or Demi.
Let Brock & Gavin walk out of the huddle without the D knowing who will take the snap. Then either can pitch it to the other for a run or pass or Brock can take the snap and pass it, Gavin & Brock together sets up a decoy. Pitch it to Gavin for a 5 to 8 yard pass to a TE.
It’s just plain dumb & even unfair to to send in Gavin for one play when he is going to run.
And… YES!!! it’s a BIG WIN!!!
but the hoorah has to be spread EVERYWHERE starting with the DL. Of course the Brock-Key & Brock-Brown strikes are classics vs #5.
Lightening stopped game 1
Lightening plays beat #5.
On both sides of the ball.
It was a long over due signature for Stoops and the team, but we are a third of the way thru the season and to have Kansas State, Louisville, Indiana, and Illinois ranked ahead of you is not a resume builder. I still feel a change of scenery next year might be a good thing.
The defense won this game in my opinion. We seem to always wrangle out a score or two. No one stops Kiffin like that in oxford.
Job well done .
Defense was great Mike