QUICK TAKES: Gator Bowl - Clemson 38, Kentucky 35
Clemson's Phil Mafah tried to elude Kentucky linebacker Tyrese Fearbry (42) during Friday's Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. (Ken Ruinard/USA TODAY SPORTS)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 38-35 loss to Clemson on Friday afternoon in the Gator Bowl at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville.
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
Tough loss for Kentucky today. The offense had excellent moments and horrible moments. At the end of the day, 35 points (28 for the offense) against that defense and nearly 400 yards looks very good. On the other hand, three straight turnovers were pivotal in the game. There was good and bad from all three units. Clemson's a good football team and you have to put them away. This snaps UK's 7-game win streak against the ACC. I thought it was the difference between a solid year and a disappointing year, so no hedging after the fact.
TRAVIS GRAF:
Bottom line here — Kentucky blew this game. The defense couldn’t get stops when they needed to, granted the offense gave Clemson some very short fields to work with. I’m unsure why Kentucky stopped bringing pressure toward the end of the game when Klubnik wasn’t handling it well. The offense gifted them with some unforced turnovers and weak ball security, and the run game was non/existent in the second half. All in all, the issues everyone complains about constantly with this team and program showed themselves again today.
JEFF DRUMMOND:
This is a game that Kentucky is going to look back on and be really upset with itself. The Cats controlled almost the entire game but kept making mistake after mistake after mistake to keep short-handed Clemson alive. Whether it was a minus-3 in the turnover column, drive-killing penalties, or abysmal strategy and clock management at the end of each half, UK just made a very winnable game so difficult to win. The Cats did a lot of really nice things today, and this should have been remembered as the day when Barion Brown put another bowl champion trophy in the case against a big brand-name opponent with national title pedigree. But the offense turned the ball over four times in the fourth quarter and the defense allowed 28 points in that stanza, oddly backing off of the pressure they had brought against Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik for eight sacks on the day.
