Kentucky’s trip to Knoxville didn’t unravel because the Wildcats were flat after the bye. According to first-year coach Will Stein, the damage came from somewhere more familiar and far more fixable: turnovers, penalties and a handful of self-inflicted mistakes in a 34-6 loss to Tennessee.
The defeat dropped Kentucky to 7-2 overall and 5-2 in the SEC, knocking the Wildcats out of a tie for the conference lead. It also pushed them down five spots to No. 13 in the AP Top 25 and six spots to No. 13 in the Coaches Poll. With the College Football Playoff rankings set to come out Tuesday night, Kentucky could go from being projected to host a playoff game last week to being left out of the 12-team field this week.
Stein didn’t hide from the mess, but he also didn’t buy the idea that the week off left his team sluggish.
“I didn’t feel like there was any rust. I mean, we obviously just didn’t- we didn’t play to our standard. And when you turn the ball over three times, you know, self-inflicted,” Stein said.
He added that one of the giveaways came after Tennessee had a player offsides and quarterback Kenny Minchey fumbled.
“But I didn’t feel like there was necessarily rust. I think they just- they did a good job taking the ball away,” Stein said.
The Wildcats’ coach said the bigger challenge now is how his team handles its first real adversity of a season that has otherwise been a major success. He said he would have a better sense within a few days of how his players are responding.
“We have a great locker room. We have great players.
We have really good people in there. Just leaving there (locker room), Kenny Minchey steps up in front of everybody and says, hey, ‘Nobody’s negative.
Nobody’s going to sulk, nobody’s going to complain or blame or defend. We lost.’
We got our butts whooped here because of turnovers more than anything. And now it’s about responding.
That’s the only way we can go.”
Stein’s postgame assessment matched the scoreboard: Tennessee took advantage of Kentucky’s mistakes and controlled the night. He pointed to the turnovers, a fourth-down mistake and penalties as the kind of errors Kentucky had avoided for most of the season.
“Credit to Tennessee. They won the game.
A lot of uncharacteristic plays by us tonight. Can’t turn the ball over three times.
That’s an obvious,” Stein said after the loss. “There’s a fourth down mistake, some penalties, stuff that we’ve controlled all year long and did not play to our standard tonight.
“It’s a hurt locker room. We haven’t experienced losing in a long time, which is really good.
But we got to learn from it. We got to grow.
We got to go back to work. There’s no loser’s limp, no poor me’s.
We got beat and now it’s about resetting our focus for this next week.”
Kentucky now turns to a home game against Florida, where the Wildcats have opened as a slight favorite. The Gators, under new coach Jon Sumrall, were ranked eighth after beating Ole Miss 55-28, but they’ve dropped four of their last five and come in off a 23-7 loss to Oklahoma. In that game, quarterback Tramell Jones went 10 of 22 for 133 yards and two interceptions.
After that loss, Sumrall - a former UK player and co-defensive coordinator - sounded just as frustrated as Stein did in Knoxville.
“I don’t have a whole lot of words that are going to make any of this right. There’s nothing I can say that’s going to make it better today,” Sumrall said.
“What we’ve been doing is not working good enough. We have to find new things to make us be successful.
“Am I frustrated? Yeah.
Am I disappointed? Yeah.
But I’m not going to whine and complain. It ain’t gonna help us.
I really feel really bad for the performance we put on.”
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Kentucky Fans Have Every Right To Be Furious After Tennessee Loss
Kentucky left Neyland Stadium with more than a loss on its hands, because the Wildcats also left with a long list of grievances about how the game was called. Two moments in particular stood out: a missed defensive pass interference against Tennessee near halftime and an offsides no-call on Tennessees Qua Moss in the third quarter, both of which had the feel of swings that could matter in a tight road game.
For a Kentucky team still alive with three games left, the frustration is easy to understand. The Wildcats have enough football remaining to keep chasing a College Football Playoff path if they can win out, but a defeat like this one lingers because it invites the question of what might have been had those calls gone the other way. [Read more 🡒]
Kentucky Still Has SEC Attention But The Pressure Just Changed
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Kentucky checking in at No. 13 is still a sign of national relevance, but it also underscores how much tighter the margin has become in the College Football Playoff race. With the SEC crowding the top of the poll, the Wildcats are no longer just trying to stay visible, they are trying to keep pace in a field where every result seems to reshape the picture. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys Biggest Concern From The Win Wont Go Away Before Kansas
James Madison kept firing away from deep against Kentucky, launching 45 three-pointers and tying a program record for most attempts by an opponent. The Wildcats still escaped with an 89-80 win by leaning on their interior scoring edge, but the game also exposed a familiar issue for a team trying to build momentum early in the season.
Perimeter defense is the part that will linger now, especially with Kansas next on the schedule. Kentucky can survive a night like this when its size and paint scoring hold up, but the margin gets much thinner if opponents keep getting that many clean looks from outside. [Read more 🡒]