Mark Stoops (Vicky Graff Photo)
In 50 years of covering University of Kentucky sports, I have seen some bad UK football teams and many frustrating seasons.
However, I am not sure I can remember a more disappointing season than this one based on the talent on this team and the expectations going into the season.
Remember, it was UK coaches who felt this was the deepest and most experienced team coach Mark Stoops has had at UK. It was UK coaches and players who talked openly about making noise in the SEC this year. Many college football analysts considered UK a possible contender for the 12-team playoff if everything went the right way.
Instead, UK is now 3-5 after falling 24-10 to Auburn Saturday night after leading 10-0 after one quarter. The score could have been a lot worse too if Auburn had not mismanaged the clock at the end of the first half and not gone to a victory celebration to end the game.
Kentucky’s supposed elite defense yielded 307 yards in the first half at Florida a week ago. Against Auburn, the Cats gave up 460 yards in the last three quarters. Auburn ran for 326 yards, including 278 on only 23 carries for Jarquez Hunter — an average of 12.1 yards per run.
Kentucky had 100 yards on its first two drives which resulted in a field goal and a touchdown. On the next seven drives, UK had only 115 yards and 66 came on the final drive when Kentucky used 7 minutes, 31 seconds even though it was down 24-10 and it was getting late in the fourth quarter. Of course, once again UK could not score from inside the five-yard line.
— First down: Jason Patterson rushes up the middle, one yard.
— Second down: Gavin Wimsatt rushes up the middle for no gain.
— Third down: Gavin Wimsatt passes up the middle to Kharmari Anderson for no gain.
— Fourth down: Gavin Wimsatt’s pass was intercepted.
Kentucky has not lost seven straight SEC home games and 11 of its last 13 SEC home games. That’s unacceptable — or should be.
Last year in a key game Kentucky jumped on top of Missouri 14-0 and then faded. Kentucky has not found the right answers at quarterback in the transfer portal for the last two years. The offensive line has not been great overall. Again there is a new offensive coordinator and no stability with the offense from one season to the next.
Former UK player Jeff Piecoro, the UK Radio Network analyst, said he had “no answers” for the way the Cats are playing. He called it “head-scratching” and that is being nice.
“The last couple of drives (down 24-10) they are huddling up, snapping the ball inside five seconds (left on the play clock). There was no urgency,” Piecoro said. “This is one of the most talented teams that Mark Stoops has had here but you can’t give up 500 yards.”
Kentucky fans have been great at creating a big-time home atmosphere at Kroger Field and UK responded by losing to South Carolina, Georgia, Vanderbilt, and Auburn.The Cats were favored in each game other than Georgia.
With the interest in basketball soaring, I know UK won’t have a capacity crowd when it plays Murray. I doubt if it will for Louisville, either. Fans are just burnt out not just with the losses but the way UK has seemed to wilt in home SEC games.
“I take great pride in having consistency that we have had for so long and this doesn’t feel like it,” UK coach Mark Stoops, who has taken UK to eight straight bowl games, said. “It is very frustrating. We really tried hard to just focus on this week and not so much on what happened in the past or the future. Bottom line, we didn’t play well enough.”
And not playing well enough has become the theme for UK and why the Cats are 3-5 and easily on their way to a 4-8 finish.
5 Responses
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The Cats are not going to win with Wimsett. The Cats are not going to win with Bush Hamblen. Someone please tell me if Hamblen has any other hole in the line he attacks except between center and guard (which did not work all night). This is what happens when you change OC’s every year. This is what happens when you do not have a player development plan and execute same. This is what happens when you play "pick up" football with players that have no relationship with each other.
Every year, the preseason hype flows from coaches, media, and many fans.
What I fail to grasp is why so many people buy into the hype, year after year.
This coach is finished here.
This coach knew he was finished here at least a year ago, and probably longer than 1 year, when he decided to seek greener pastures at Texas A&M, but unfortunately for him and the BBN, that plan blew up in his face when the TAMU big money guys vetoed the A&M plan to bring Stoops to College Station.
This team may be able to beat Murray State, but there is not another potential win left on this schedule.
UK is tied for 14th in the 16 team SEC at 3-5.
UK jumped out to a 10-0 lead and then literally QUIT !!!!
It takes a very special coach to stand on the sideline and witness such a 180 degree turn!
I don’t think UK will be in the SEC Title game this season, even though there was a lot of hype in August.
I didn’t think about it much at the time, but Stoops must have really wanted that A&M job, and must have, in his mind, already had his bags packed and had the Bluegrass State in his rear-view mirror. So im wondering how much of what happened on that deal has affected HIM PERSONALLY since, and has been a factor in this season. He looks and sounds like he is over KY—and if he is, then he needs to do the right thing, and step down at season’s end. But that doesn’t mean u don’t keep TRYING!!! But clearly, the culture he had built up here has been wiped out in just the 2023 and 2024 seasons. There was a major step back taken in 2022 after Stoops had peaked from 2018-2021. In 2021, this program was at the highest level it had been under Stoops, and my expectation was that was going to be built on. But it seems all the changes in college football have been so large that it has destroyed the original culture Stoops built here. These players today are not interested in the dream that Stoops and Marrow originally sold them on, which was making KY, a traditional SEC doormat, into a contender and an SEC player. And doing it by having an edge, playing with a chip on your shoulder, making defense and physical play on both lines of scrimmage your calling card as a program, and offensively building around a strong running game to control the clock and time of possession, and using the run to set up big pass plays. And when Levis was here and Liam Coen was his OC, they made that work. And when John Schlarman was still alive, he made our OLINE physically tough, as did Stoops with the defense, and we became known as one of the most physical teams in the conference who could wear teams down with both the OLINE and DLINE, and be able to control the game with about 8 yrs’ worth of established running backs who were able to get the tough yards when needed. The success of the running game and the strong OLINE play masked so many of the issues with QB play and the passing game. And one of the most important players during this run was C.J. Conrad, who was basically another lineman, but was actually utilized in the passing game enough to be a difference-maker and a savior for the passing game! When they threw to CJ, he ALWAYS caught the ball. And when u have a line of talented runners for so many years–Jojo Kemp, Boom Williams, Benny Snell, Lynn Bowden, Chris Rodriguez, Ray Davis—u are able to control the game and play it and win it the way u want to. When u are facing those crucial 3rd and 4th downs, when it’s 3rd and short or 4th and short, and u need those game-deciding 1 or 2 yards, u have basically 8 yrs worth of guys from the above list that u can put the ball in their hands in those situations, and feel pretty damn good about your chances of getting that conversion, along with an OLINE u can trust in and depend on. Not only the running backs, but we also had a long run of standout linemen who were an integral part of this run from 2016-2021: Bunchy Stallings, Jon Toth, Drake Jackson, Landon Young, Darian Kinnard, Luke Fortner, Logan Stenberg, Kenneth Horsey, and even towards the end of the run, more recent guys like Jeremy Flax and Eli Cox—but it was that main group above that all played together in some combination from 2016-2022, and that was the stretch where we had our most success in the Stoops era. Stoops and Marrow worked hard with recruiting and in selling guys on a dream and building up not only a solid team, but a winning culture, and it worked for several years. We had that core group of players together on offense for so many years, and that makes a huge difference. And they were also "coached up". The 5 biggest losses for this football program since the COVID season: John Schlarman, Liam Coen, Will Levis, Wan’dale Robinson, and the core group of veteran O-linemen and running backs who were together for 6-7 years, and who all WON together for 6-7 yrs. Will Levis is the best QB that Stoops ever had here by far–maybe u can say the ONLY QB Stoops ever had here. Levis turned out to be much better than I ever expected. Alot of it had to do with his own personal mentality and work ethic–he was willing to put his own body on the line for the sake of the team, and I always admire that quality in any QB—because not every QB will have that mentality. Levis was also what we are missing today: A TEAM LEADER. He was the kind of guy who would put the team on his shoulders. Lynn Bowden was the same way–and actually, u can make a case that Lynn Bowden was the best QB that Stoops ever had. Ppl have forgotten what they accomplished in 2019 when that season was on the brink of total collapse after 4 games when they lost both QBs to injury, and also that year u are having to replace Benny Snell after 3 yrs, who was also a "team leader", another guy who put the team on his shoulders. But Lynn Bowden did that same thing for the last 8 games of the 2019 season–they finished up 6-2 for the remainder of the season, and won an absolutely wild Belk Bowl over VA TECH on a Bowden TD pass to Josh Ali with 10 secs left. In some ways, I can say that was one of my fav seasons of UK FB under Stoops. We forget they finish 8-4 that year with a bowl win under those circumstances–u can make a case that maybe that was Stoops’ best coaching job at KY. Bowden and Chris Rodriguez ran wild and ran all over ppl that year when they took over the offense, and as much as we wanted him gone, Eddie Gran did a fantastic job with running that offense and making it a success. Ever since Levis has been gone, I have said maybe Stoops should have just brought Gran back as the OC, and they go about trying to install that Wildcat offense as their game plan offensively–just recruit huge linemen and tight ends, and one star running back and one stud receiver, then go about recruting an "athlete"-type guy like Bowden to play QB. The only thing is though, I don’t know if u can win in the SEC long-term with that. But it seems to be the only offense Stoops has proven capable of running aside from the year Levis and Coen were together. But that 2019 season was a masterful coaching job by both Stoops and Gran–and Bowden is one of my favorite KY FB players of all time, because of what he did that year leading the team, putting them on his back, and single-handedly going out there and putting his body on the line. Now with the game having changed the way it has, that season all of a sudden feels so old-school and so long ago. Its just because so much has changed, not just in the game, but in the world too. But another thing I think ppl forget is: it is entirely possible that Wan’dale Robinson is the best and most talented wide receiver to ever play at KY. I would say the last wideout I can think of that we had that would be in his class is Craig Yeast. But Wan’dale may have been even better. Its a damn shame he was only here for one year. I tell u this much: Stoops’ entire resume and career at KY looks much different if Wan’dale signs with KY straight out of high school in 2019 rather than going to Nebraska and playing there for two years. I don’t think ppl really understood how talented that kid really was–IDK if maybe I even did at the time–in 2021, we don’t come close to having the success we did if u take Wan’dale off the team, even with Levis still. Wan’dale did so much for that team–he is one of those once in a lifetime talents that u cannot measure his value to the team in terms of his talent, his ability, and his leadership. That kid made and saved some plays with his own individual talent and abilities and athleticism. Most notably, he and Levis together won the Citrus Bowl against Iowa on New Year’s Day 2022 with that long pass play with about a minute left–it was like an 80-something yard pass, I think we were backed up on like our own 25-yd line, and Levis just threw a bomb over to the left sideline that Wan’dale made a miracle catch out of while under heavy coverage, but then he turned and got even more out of it on his own–thought he was going all the way in–he deserved it–but he took it down to the 5-yd line, and Rodriguez punched it in for the bowl- winning TD on the very next play. u could say they got lucky, in a way, yes they did–but they also had TALENT, they had leadership, they had ability, and more importantly, they had a "winning" mentality–like THATS winning football, that’s team leadership, that is veteran leadership and veteran gamesmanship in action, that’s putting the team on your back as a QB and as a receiver, and knowing u have a cohesive team unit behind u backing u up–a la an O-LINE pass protecting and blocking, tight ends blocking, fullbacks blocking–then when Iowa got the ball back with under a minute left still with a chance to tie or win, only down by 3, the defense steps up and clinches the win with a game-winning interception by DeAndre Square–another veteran and all-time great defensive player who was here for like 7 years. Beginning in 2022 and then again in 2023, we were faced with replacing like damn near a generation’s worth of veteran guys, both on offense and defense, not to mention an all-world punter in Max Duffy, and let’s also not forget before then, an all-world kicker in Austin McGinnis. Its guys like that who have come and gone in this program over the last 8 years, and they were the life, the crux, the heart and soul of everything Stoops built here, most notably the core of the CULTURE he established. In 2022 u lose Wan’dale and Josh Ali, another proven accomplished veteran, plus all those linemen to the NFL, then in 2023 u r having to replace Will Levis and Chris Rodriguez. Altho as I have said, Ray came in last year and replaced Rodriguez very well –he exceeded my expectations–and he kept us alive in the running game for one more year. Last year’s team does not win 6 games, does not beat LOU or FLA, and does not go to a bowl without Ray. That’s how bad the QB play and OLINE play was last year. But Ray’s accomplishments masked alot of that. Ray quickly became an all-time fav too, just with his attitude, his mentality—he is a rare gem in today’s world of cocky fb players, the spoiled, entitled, ME-ME-ME mentality—Ray plays the game for the right reasons. And u see what he is already doing in the NFL. If more guys had the heart, the hunger, the desire, the passion, and the work ethic for this game that Ray does, we would have a much better world of football. Im so over seeing our guys act like fools–the celebrating and taunting over just executing basic football plays, and doing so when u are playing this lousy, and u are losing every game–the fans are over this. For me personally, this season was already over once they lost to Vandy, because I knew then we weren’t winning another game. I knew there was a major problem after SCAR honestly, and as much as I hated to say it and feel it, the season was over after the second GD game of the schedule! I was shell shocked over that effort and that performance. This team lost all the games they HAD to win to go where they needed to be. If u can no longer beat the Vandy’s, the SCAR’s, the Missouri’s–if u can no longer beat the teams that u are at least on even ground with competitively, then u are lost as a football program. And it has been the losses to these very teams over these 3 seasons that have defined what these teams have been: SCAR and Vandy in 2022, altho alot of that had to do with major personnel injuries at the time, but still…….in 2023, it was the loss at home to Missouri that defined and changed the trajectory of that season. Blowing a 14-0 lead in the second qtr with the ball driving into Mizzou territory, and u essentially fumble the ball and the win away, and in turn give up 38 unanswered points. The season was over at that point, although they still beat LOU again and made a bowl, but another loss to SCAR. Which brings us to this year: they didn’t even get to play a full game because of the long weather delay in the opener, so it’s like we had to wait until Game 2 to see what we really had as a team, but u r going straight into SEC play without really any game experience under your belt, and i dont think they were ready for or prepared for that onslaught at all—but SCAR was. Its interesting how all these other teams and coaches seem to be up to task and prepared when they play us—like they’re actually AWAKE, while our guys are somewhere else in their heads–or maybe WISHING they were somewhere else! But SCAR threw everything they had at KY, and I can’t stand Beamer, but I give him and their team credit. They have one of the best DLINES in the country, and I like their QB too–and they brought it all on us and absolutely destroyed us and embarrassed us. It was a very humiliating and embarrassing performance and loss, in my opinion, AT HOME—and for me at that point, the season was over, and it basically hadn’t even started yet. It was like all the excitement I had over the long summer waiting to see this team and see what they had and what they would look like–we didn’t even get to enjoy that–and I do give them credit for the performance against GA, and maybe the season is diff if u somehow pull that game out, but we know that lame-ass coaching decisions and the sorry-ass SEC officials cost us that win. However, I don’t think this year’s GA team is to the level of the last 3 or 4. BUT–if u somehow win that, then u offset the SCAR loss and re-set—-and they did kind of have that opportunity when they won at Ole Miss—that was unexpected, and not one we counted on, so at that point, they had at least saved their season, they still had something to play for. BUT U HAVE TO BUILD ON THAT!!! U HAVE TO LEARN FROM IT!! thats where Stoops comes up short as a coach. He is not the kind of guy who can motivate players, or get in their heads psychologically, he has no energy, no fire, no spirit, no passion, no intangible qualities that can separate him from some other coaches in any positive aspects. The only time u see Stoops fired up or yelling is when he is screaming at the officials. Which sometimes they do need to be screamed at. But it doesn’t do any good. The point is Stoops CANNOT get his teams prepared to play, they cannot take care of the games they are supposed to win in order to take care of their bowl spot and a winning record. Again, when u can no longer beat the teams that u are even with, u have lost the fb program and have taken us back to the basement. We don’t expect wins over GA or BAMA. but we do expect now to regularly be able to beat Vandy, SCAR, Missouri, Miss St—then, with the fact Stoops brought us up a notch in the SEC, we expect to be able to start beating the FLA’s, the AUB’s, the TN’s, the Ole Miss’s, the ARK’s, and the TX A&M’s every couple of years. But u know, when u look back, Stoops had his best success, at least offensively, when we had a once in a lifetime OC, the best QB to play here since Andre Woodson, and one of the top 5 all time receivrers to ever play at KY. Then when u look defensively, Stoops has done a fantastic job with that side of the ball—but it seems even our best defensive teams are in the rear-view. But again, they lost a core group of veterans on that side of the ball after 2022 and 2023. We still have a few of those guys left, like JJ Weaver, D’Erky Jackson, and Big Ox—and up until the last couple of weeks, this defense was playing well enough to win in the SEC. But this Godawful offense failed them. And now they have a bunch of injuries and guys now out–the thing I hate is that they aren’t even going to have anybody left who is healthy after the trips to Knoxville and Austin. TX and TN are going to be absolute bloodbaths—and here Vandy goes and plays TX to a 3-pt game yesterday. Think we’re gonna be able to stay within 3 of TX on their home field? LOL I fear, by NOV 16TH after a bye week, a team with half of its starters out hurt, and what’s left is a group who doesn’t even care anymore and feels like they have nothing to play for. Well, u have to at least SHOW UP in order to beat Murray St. And if they were to unthinkably lose that game, Stoops should be fired immediately. Let Vince coach the last two games against TX and LOU. Because, if u lose to Murray, then u have lost complete control of your program, and I honestly dont believe that we are far from that right now. But the thing I hate is not even having anybody healthy by the time we play LOU, we will be beat up black and blue by TN and TX, and the mental state by then will be so fragile that we will have nothing left. LOU just might not only win, but run all over us. And what a horrible way to end what has already been a nightmare. But that’s the one last thing that, in spite of the downward turn the last 3 yrs, Stoops has still been able to pull off the LOU win–last year, we got lucky as hell to win that game in Cardinal Stadium–they had us beat, and we had no business winning that game—tore them up!!! We have won 5 in a row over LOU, and 6 out of the last 7. They have only beaten us one time since 2015, and they have not beaten us in Cardinal Stadium since 2014!!! It wouldn’t mean as much overall this year as far as the final record, but every year when it comes time for that game, even if u are sitting at 2-9, that game still means something for that 4 hours–even if u are WINLESS, U still want to win that game at the end of the year!!! In 1994 with one of Bill Curry’s finest teams, we won the very first Governor’s Cup game played in the modern era, winning in LEX by a score of 20-14. That KY team would go on to not win another game the rest of the year. LOL but when it was all over, we were still able to say "BUT WE BEAT LOU"!!! Cmon CATS, as fans, we need SOMETHING this year!!!! I think thats one thing the fans are so upset about–it seems we are the only ones left who care–it seems the players and coaches don’t even care as much as we do. I really hope Stoops steps down after the season. The long term health of the program is at stake, just like with bball. And the sooner the better–the quicker we can move on and try to heal. The problem is nobody else is going to be coming for Stoops like last year. And unfortunately, IDK who out there is looking to come to KY, except maybe for Jon Sumrall. But maybe we need to go the route of bball: bring in a former player on the football side to coach FOR KY, and WIN FOR KY–and it be somebody who IS KY HIMSELF! At this point, im just about ready, as I was in bball, for just a change period–im ready for ANYBODY BUT STOOPS just like I was ready for ANYBODY BUT CAL. I think it’s time. Because what has happened with the program under his watch–to see him tearing down the very thing that he built HIMSELF, is sad and disheartening.