Wildcats are their own worst enemy, fall to Rebels 42-35

photo courtesy Lexington Herald Leader

It was going to take a pretty complete team effort for Kentucky to travel to Oxford and knock off the Ole Miss Rebels.  It was asking too much to ask them to defeat both the Rebels and themselves in an extremely disappointing       loss to the Rebels.

Granted, this was the same Ole Miss Rebel team that had lost to both Jacksonville State and Vanderbilt at home this year.  So it was not out of the realm of possibility to expect the Wildcats to be able to steal a game on the road as well.  It certainly started as if Kentucky could have their way with the beleaguered Rebel defense.  Derrick Locke accounted for all 60 yards of the Wildcat’s opening drive as UK found themselves up 7-0 barely 3:00 into the game.

The teams traded three and outs and then, the three headed monster (turnovers, penalties, and special team meltdowns) that has plagued Kentucky football for the last 2-3 seasons started to rear it’s ugly head:

On a second and ten from the Kentucky 10, the usually surehanded Randall Cobb coughed the ball up.  Three plays later, Rodney Scott was in the endzone and the Rebels had tied the game.  Kentucky actually put together a very nice 12 play, 80 yard drive in which Hartline looked poised and collected and Randall Cobb was, well Randall Cobb and atoned for his earlier miscue with a 15 yard TD grab which put Kentucky back on top 14-7.  The Wildcat defense played well on the next series and forced a punt and you had the feeling that Kentucky was going to have their way with the Ole Miss D and work the ball down the field again.

Not so fast.  Charles Sawyer picked off a Hartline pass and took it to the UK 9 yard line.  Two plays later, Jeremiah Masoli hit HR Greer for a 8 yard TD pass and the game was knotted yet again.  On the very next play from scrimmage, Chris Matthews coughed up the ball on a 10 yard completion and Ole Miss recovered at the UK 43 yard line.  Brandon Bolden scored a few played later and it was 21-14 Rebels.

In case you are keeping score, that is three UK turnovers that forced Ole Miss to travel a total of  63 yards for their three touchdowns.  In any game of football, this is unforgivable and you can not expect to win any football game doing that, much less on the road in the SEC.

But the frustration was just mounting for the Wildcats.

Kentucky mounted a semi-drive, that stalled out at the Ole Miss 38 after a 3rd and 11 play that netted all of three yards.  In no man’s land, Kentucky punted and Ryan Tydalacka pinned the Rebels at the 6 inch line.  Kentucky’s defense forced a three and out and UK seemed to be in position to tie the game, downing the punt at the Rebel 32.  Kentucky did nothing with the ball and passed for four yards on a 4th and 6 which gave the ball back to the Rebels.  Kentucky forced another three and out, and got the ball back at their 32 wiwth about a minute left.  Kentucky drove the ball and got a Craig McIntosh 50 yard FG as time expired in the first half.

Despite the three turnovers and three easy touchdowns by Ole Miss, Kentucky dominated the stats in the first half.  Despite the errors, Kentucky was in a game that was very winnable.  After keeping Joseph Masoli bottled up most of the first half, he started to hurt UK with his legs.  And the old penalty bug creeped up on the first Ole Miss drive of the second half, with the personal fouls accounting for 30 yards on the drive.  It’s hard to stop a team giving up 30 yards in penalties and Jeremiah Masoli hit Bolden for another TD that pushed the lead to 28-17.

Kentucky had the next drive fizzle out due to ultra conservative playcalling and McIntosh booted a 42 yard FG to keep the Cats within 28-20, but then the mental errors struck again.  Joe Mansour’s kickoff went out of bounds (one of two for him), resulting in another short field for the Rebs.  It took Masoli less than four minutes to run and pass his Rebels into the end zone again for a 35-20 lead.  Horribly unimaginative playcalling led to another Kentucky three and out and then the wheels completely fell off, with Jesse Gandy returning the punt 73 yards to the UK 7.  Ole Miss took opportunity of their third short field of the day of less than 10 yards and the Rebels were up 42-20.  UK responded with an uninspired three and out and it seemed like the Wildcats were on their way to their second straight blow out loss.

To their credit, UK fought back.  Randall Cobb took a dumpoff pass 41 yards to the Ole Miss three yard line.  Derrick Lock scored on a run and Mike Hartline hit Randall Cobb for the two point conversion and UK was within two scores.  Kentucky drove back down the field but were stalled on the 23 yard line.  At that point, Mike Hartline appeared to hit Chris Matthews on a 23 yard strike in the endzone, but his foot was slightly out of bounds.  Kentucky’s defense rebounded with another three and out and Mike Hartline hit Chris Matthews on a 13 yard TD pass that pulled UK to within 7 points.

The onsides kick took a seemingly Kentucky bounce and the ball was in the big paws of Danny Trevathan for a few tantalizing seconds before it bounced out of bounds.   Kentucky was unable to stop a final 3rd and 19 play by Bolden and the Rebels were able to run out the clock on one of the most frustrating Kentucky losses in the past decade.  And that is saying a lot.

Granted, this is a game that Kentucky outplayed the Rebels thoroughly and the 424-301 advantage in yardage backs this up.  The bottom line is that due to turnovers and special teams miscue, Ole Miss was able to put 28 points on the board by driving 70 yards total.  And you can’t win doing that, no matter who you play.

All in all, it sounds weird to say, but UK’s defense played well, despite giving up 42 points.  The offense, despite the three turnovers and a brief total
lack of imagination by the coaches for part of the second and third quarter was very efficient.  This truly was a game that Kentucky should have won by at least 10 points.  What is it going to take to get over this spell of excruciating losses that should be wins?  Lots of questions for UK to answer before the juggernaut known as Auburn comes to Commonwealth next week.

I’m frustrated.

Game stats are here. 

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