Another disappointing loss against Tennessee in a series full of disappointing losses to Tennessee. In the process, Kentucky wasted one of the best games by a UK QB in a very long time.
That was almost as bad a start as you could have imagined. UK gets into 3rd and 15 first drive. Then UT scores on a 52-yard run and tacks on a FG for a 10-0 lead after Kentucky fails to convert 4th and 1 from its own territory.
But then the Cats started to settle in. I think you have to credit Devin Leary first and foremost for that. He was really on point. Barion Brown made a couple of big-time catches on the drive to make it 13-10. Leary played pretty much flawless for most of the game. Not surprisingly, the offensive line protected well for most of the game and the receivers helped him out. Go figure!
This was the first time all season Kentucky took punches from an opponent and was able to punch back and reverse the tide of momentum.
But really the offense was fine. They weren't perfect, they couldn't run the ball, but the offense put a lot of strain on UT's defense. The defense was not good enough tonight. They weren't good enough against UGA or Mizzou either. Sort of like back in 2021 when they had three straight bad games (UGA, Miss St, Tenn), they're in that kind of rut now.
There are a lot of things that can be said. Maybe too aggressive on a couple of play calls (wheel route to DSK on 4th down, deep shot on 3rd down from edge of FG range), lots of missed tackles, some blitz calls UT took advantage of, some plays left on the field on both sides.
There are some winnable games remaining but 5-3 (2-3 SEC) means you're just hoping to get to 4-4 in the SEC, IMO. Defense has to do some soul searching.
That was almost as bad a start as you could have imagined. UK gets into 3rd and 15 first drive. Then UT scores on a 52-yard run and tacks on a FG for a 10-0 lead after Kentucky fails to convert 4th and 1 from its own territory.
But then the Cats started to settle in. I think you have to credit Devin Leary first and foremost for that. He was really on point. Barion Brown made a couple of big-time catches on the drive to make it 13-10. Leary played pretty much flawless for most of the game. Not surprisingly, the offensive line protected well for most of the game and the receivers helped him out. Go figure!
This was the first time all season Kentucky took punches from an opponent and was able to punch back and reverse the tide of momentum.
But really the offense was fine. They weren't perfect, they couldn't run the ball, but the offense put a lot of strain on UT's defense. The defense was not good enough tonight. They weren't good enough against UGA or Mizzou either. Sort of like back in 2021 when they had three straight bad games (UGA, Miss St, Tenn), they're in that kind of rut now.
There are a lot of things that can be said. Maybe too aggressive on a couple of play calls (wheel route to DSK on 4th down, deep shot on 3rd down from edge of FG range), lots of missed tackles, some blitz calls UT took advantage of, some plays left on the field on both sides.
There are some winnable games remaining but 5-3 (2-3 SEC) means you're just hoping to get to 4-4 in the SEC, IMO. Defense has to do some soul searching.
