Kentucky isn’t doing anything well right now.
Although they’re just over halfway through the regular season, the Kentucky Wildcats football team quickly found themselves in a “now or never” situation when playing host to the Auburn Tigers.
Head coach Mark Stoops has made eight consecutive bowl games, and that streak is on the line with Kentucky’s strength of schedule for the rest of the season rather high.
Kentucky’s chances of extending that bowl streak are slim to none following the team’s 24-10 loss to Auburn on Saturday night. The Cats jumped out to a 10-0 lead but were absolutely dominated the rest of the way.
Brock Vandagriff had a promising start but was eventually benched in favor of Gavin Wimsatt, who was an absolute disaster that gave the Cats no chance to win.
Just another week for Mark Stoops.
Here are four things to know and postgame banter.
Dark Days Ahead
Kentucky is 3-5 on the year, and its final four games are against Tennessee, Murray State, Texas, and Louisville. Considering how the Wildcats have played through their first eight games, they’ll no doubt be sizable underdogs at both Tennessee (next weekend) and Texas (November 23rd).
Despite how bad they’ve played over the last month, they should be favorites over Murray State (November 16th. This leaves the season finale at home vs. Louisville — a team that has played pretty well this fall and would love nothing more than to hand an L on Stoops and the Wildcats Thanksgiving weekend.
Kentucky will need either a miracle or some serious changes to take place if they have any hopes of finishing the season with six wins.
Quarterback Struggles Continue
The lack of success by Brock Vandagriff isn’t entirely on his shoulders. Kentucky’s offensive line has been below average and the Wildcats have not had a consistent rushing attack all season.
However, he’s also not been near the quarterback both UK and the fans had hoped he’d be in his first season at Kentucky. The Wildcats have not eclipsed 20 points in an SEC game this year — an absurd stat considering they have some of the more talented wide receivers in the conference, and Alex Raynor has been one of the best place kickers in the country.
Turnovers and an unbalanced passing attack have no doubt plagued the Kentucky offense, with both of those starting at the quarterback position.
Gavin Wimsatt saw considerable action on Saturday night, so the quarterback situation will be something to monitor going forward, even if it was clear Wimsatt has no business being the starter right now.
Tackling Must Improve
Auburn finished the game with 98 yards after the catch. Not only did those yards lead to big plays but they were back-breaking for the Kentucky defense on third down. Payton Thorne and the Tigers were 8-13 on third down conversions, which kept the Kentucky defense on the field and a struggling Kentucky offense on the sideline.
It wasn’t just the yards after the catch from the Auburn passing attack but also the yards per carry on the ground that broke Kentucky’s back. The Tigers’ running backs averaged over nine yards per carry for a total of 318 rushing yards, with several runs extending after first contact.
Jarquez Hunter did the majority of the damage, running wild on Kentucky with 23 carries for 278 yards and two scores as they were unable to get stops once Auburn got going.
Kentucky’s defense has not been themselves for two weeks now and with injuries starting to become a factor, their road ahead will only become more of a challenge.
Should this be the end for Mark Stoops?