I have to admit, I am not one for moral victories. And after 10 games of a frustrating football season, I certainly am of the “win at all costs” mentality, but after watching Kentucky’s 19-10 loss to Georgia, I am OK going the moral victory route. Face it, this was a Georgia team that had played the best football of anyone in the SEC not named Alabama and LSU. And it was a Georgia team that just steamrolled #20 Auburn 45-7. So it would be interesting to see what kind a fight a Kentucky team that got pasted by Vanderbilt would show.
Kentucky played perhaps it’s best defensive game of the season, allowing just one Georgia touchdown and forcing Georgia to settle for FG’s the rest of the day. Call it a moral victory, but Kentucky has been the only team to hold Georgia in the teens all season. The Wildcat defense showed the usual heart and grit from people like Danny Trevathan and Winston Guy, but Kentucky fans need to familiarize themselves with the names Ashley Lowery and Alvin Dupree as both younger player stepped up and made an impact. Kentucky was hitting hard on defense all day and forced three Bulldog turnovers. It was obvious to anyone watching this game that Kentucky has not quit on Joker Phillips and the unit has a good bit of pride.
Kentucky played well enough today to lead most of the first half, but then the usual culprits, turnovers, penalties and special teams play, plagued UK as they tried to make a statement. I really don’t know why Kentucky football has been historically snakebit but this trend continued. The picture above documents the play the “never happened”. With Georgia with the ball in Kentucky territory, Cartier Rice had an interception to stop the drive and maintain a UK first half lead. Christian Coleman was offsides and the play was negated. And that seems to be the story of UK football. One step forward, two steps back.
Ashley Lowery also fumbled a kickoff return near the end of the first half with UK clinging to a 10-9 lead. The defense forced a FG, but you have to think it dampened UK’s spirits going in down at half 12-10 and not be up 10-9.
While the Kentucky defense certainly played well enough to win, Kentucky’s offense continued to struggle. Max Smith played well early, but as the game went on, the offensive line was beat down in the second half and UK could get no offense at all. The wide receivers had problems getting open and when they did, Smith was victimized by their ability to hold on to the ball. Only 3 of Kentucky’s 18 catches were by a wide receiver (all by Matt Roark) and I can count at least 5 catches that UK’s WR’s “shoulda caught”.
It’s hard to be so critical of Smith as he was under constant pressure today and managed to get rid of the ball a lot instead of taking a sack. I do like that he spreads the ball around and has brought the UK TE back into the offense, but when the receiving corps fail him, it’s hard to beat Georgia with halfback passes and tosses to the TE. Raymond Sanders ran the ball really well today, but he only got 5 carries. William Coshik had nothing in the tank today and the offensive line could not give any separation to help him out.
Granted, this is a Georgia defense that is playing as well as anyone in the SEC and plenty of teams are going to struggle against Georgia. It’s just bittersweet that if not for the great Georgia defense, Kentucky could have walked out of Athens with their second straight win.
I’m not going to make excuses for Kentucky, but a lot of their problems have been due to injuries this year. A lot have been self-inflicted as well. And as a result, the bowl streak is over. It’s fair to say that the coaching staff has taken a lot of heat this season and I would say a lot of it is deserved. That is why I was so pleased to see the fight in Kentucky today and the solid effort the game gave for 60 minutes.
There is no bowl this year. And Kentucky football will have their second straight losing season. And as a Kentucky fan, I am sick of moral victories. But there is still something left to play for. Kentucky has the chance to put a silver lining on this black cloud of a season, show the effort they did today and break the 26 game losing streak against Tennessee next week. After so many moral victories, it’s time to end this season on a high note and deliver the win Kentucky fans have deserved for so long.
The team can beat Tennessee next week. And after today’s effort, you have to hope they can believe it and deliver.