QUICK TAKES: Missouri 38, Kentucky 21
Missouri's Luther Burden III eluded the tackle of Kentucky defensive back Andru Phillips (23) during Saturday's game at Kroger Field. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
In our regular postgame feature, the Cats Illustrated staff offers its first impressions from Kentucky's 38-21 loss to Missouri on Saturday night at Kroger Field...
JUSTIN ROWLAND:
That was a brutal game for the Big Blue Nation to have to endure. It looked like Kentucky was poised to beat the brakes off the Tigers the way the game started. The way the fake punt call changed absolutely everything was crazy in hindsight. What a bizarre play. Good call by Mizzou boss Eli Drinkwitz given it was only a calculated risk, in UK territory, and the Cats' staff even knew to be prepared for it. Things really spiraled tonight in a way that makes me wonder - where is the leadership?
JEFF DRUMMOND:
This was Mark Stoops' worst nightmare after responding to a caller on his weekly radio show following last week's 51-13 loss at Georgia by suggesting fans need to "pony up" if they want to win more SEC games. While that may be true, you can't follow that statement up with an undisciplined mess of a performance on your home field against a middle-of-pack league opponent. That said, you have to give a lot of credit to Missouri for keeping its composure after the Cats raced to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Tigers really played well, had some nice play-calling dialed up, and deserved the hard-to-come-by SEC road W. Not sure where the Cats go from here. The season could really spiral out of control barring some major changes in every phase of the game.
TRAVIS GRAF:
I feel like a lot things came to a head tonight, some trends starting to form and others that we’ve known about for a while. Kentucky’s bend but don’t break defense is just not cutting it, and I’m terrified of what Josh Huepel will do to Kentucky in two weeks if Brad White couldn’t figure out Eli Drinkwitz. Stoops’ end of first half game management is as poor as it was in year one as well. The team is very undisciplined and I think thought too highly of themselves early in the season, and were probably overrated by fans and media alike. The scary part is Kentucky built this program’s momentum by beating teams like Missouri, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt, and now you’ve lost to all three within the past two seasons. I believe the season is at risk of spiraling.
DAVID SISK:
This one is a very tough loss for Kentucky. After getting up 14-0 it looked like they were totally disengaged. One will look at total yards and first downs and think it got away. The bottom line is that Missouri dominated the Cats 38-7 in the last three quarters. UK had two more penalty yards than passing yards. The defense couldn’t get off the field, both sides looked undisciplined, and the passing game was non-existent. The game announcers were questioning whether Devin Leary would be better in a hurry-up style, but either way, he has no protection. The bottom line is that the current state of the program may be overhyped. They are 9-0 in September the past two years against Florida and non-Power Five teams. It gets no easier with Tennessee and Alabama coming up in two of the next three.
