Kentucky had Alabama on the ropes for a half, then watched the game slip away in a hurry.
The Wildcats carried a 17-13 lead into halftime Saturday and had No. 12 Alabama staring at an upset in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. But the Crimson Tide came out of the break and took over completely, blanking Kentucky 32-0 over the final two quarters on the way to a 45-17 win.
Kentucky had every reason to feel good about where things stood early. The Wildcats opened the afternoon by rolling out former standouts Tim Couch and Craig Yeast, who helped lead the team onto the field alongside first-year coach Will Stein. It was a clear nod to the program’s past, and it seemed to give the home side a jolt right away.
That energy showed up on the scoreboard when Kentucky forced an Alabama turnover on a tipped pass and turned it into a Miquise Humphrey-Grace touchdown. Another score pushed the Wildcats ahead 14-7, and for a while the building had upset-alert written all over it.
But Alabama settled in and Kentucky couldn’t keep matching the pace.
“It was” far from a perfect game,” Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said. “It wasn’t this crazy energy that we had to have.
I felt like it was just getting locked in, getting refocused, and just knowing the game was going to be ours. We’ve just got to go out and execute.”
The Wildcats’ defense did plenty of work in the first half, holding Alabama to 128 total yards and just five yards on the ground before the break. The problem was what happened next. Alabama found its rhythm after halftime, piling up 215 of its 343 total yards in the second half and rushing for 150 yards as Kentucky’s defense wore down.
For Stein, the finish was hard to absorb.
He called it a “shock to the system.”
Now Kentucky has to turn the page quickly. The Wildcats head to College Station on Saturday to face No.
10 Texas A&M in Stein’s first road game as Kentucky’s coach. The Aggies beat Arizona State and former Wildcat quarterback Cutter Boley 48-20 on Saturday.
“The good thing, the positive is, we are 1-1 on the season,” Stein said. “We are not 12 games in; this is the second game of the year.
We’ve got a lot to improve on, which is good. The tape will tell us completely where we are at, and we’ve got an opportunity to get better this week and go into a hostile environment in College Station and go attack this week.”
In Other News...
Kentuckys Fast Start Vs Alabama Ended In A Brutal Second-Half Collapse
Kentucky looked in control early against No. 12 Alabama, jumping out with a fast start that suggested the Wildcats might be ready to land a statement win. Instead, the game flipped after halftime, when Alabama put together a relentless surge and Kentuckys offense never found its footing again.
The second half was especially rough for the Wildcats, who managed only three first downs and 62 total yards while Alabamas defense kept heat on the quarterback and forced multiple turnovers. Even after a shaky opening stretch, Alabamas quarterback settled down and helped guide the comeback, leaving Kentucky to sort through how a promising start unraveled so quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Showed Whats Still Missing Against Alabama
Kentucky had a rare opening against Alabama at Kroger Field, building a 17-13 halftime lead behind a defense that even found the end zone on MiQuise Humphrey-Graces pick-six. For a half, the Wildcats looked like a team ready to make the Crimson Tide uncomfortable, and Alabama helped them along with several penalties that kept the home side in front heading into the break.
The second half, though, reminded Kentucky how much remains between a promising moment and a complete performance. Alabama scored on five straight possessions after halftime and rolled to a 45-17 win, pushing Kentucky to its 40th loss in 43 meetings with the Crimson Tide. The game was another example of how a good first half can turn quickly when the Wildcats cannot sustain it against an opponent built to punish every opening. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Let Another Alabama Opportunity Slip Away Fast
For a half, Kentucky looked like it had another heavyweight SEC upset within reach at Kroger Field. The Wildcats built a 17-13 lead on the strength of timely defensive plays, including an interception returned for a touchdown and a forced fumble, and for a while the home crowd had every reason to believe Alabama might be staring at a familiar road problem.
Alabama changed the feel of the game quickly after halftime, taking the lead in the third quarter and then pulling away in a hurry. Kentucky never scored again, getting shut out the rest of the way as the Crimson Tide finished with a 45-17 win and left the Wildcats to wonder how quickly a promising afternoon can turn once the margin for error disappears. [Read more 🡒]