A lot of folks will say that a loss is a loss and looking for a moral victory is a waste of time. I would disagree, at least in regards to this season’s Kentucky team. The Wildcats traveled down to Athens to take on Georgia in a game that saw the Bulldogs favored by 30 points. While even the most optimistic Kentucky fans didn’t give their Wildcats much of a chance against Georgia, the players themselves obviously had a lot more faith. Kentucky came out and overcame obstacles put in place by themselves and the opposition to play in a game that ended up much closer than the experts predicted.
So what happened?
Kentucky’s loss came down to three main factors. The Wildcats had four turnovers, could not stop the run defensively, and the offense could not mount even a close semblance to their own rushing attack. In a touch game like this one, the offense and special teams absolutely must protect the football. That didn’t happen. Two fumbles and two interceptions stalled Kentucky drives and gave momentum back to Georgia. The Kentucky defense allowed backup running back Brandon Harton to pile up 101 rushing yards on the day as well. Despite starter Isaiah Crowell’s injury on the first drive, Georgia still was able to move the ball on the ground, which has been an Achilles heel for the Cats all year. To top everything off, the Wildcats were only able to muster together 23 total rushing yards as a team. The lack of a balanced attack made the Cats one dimensional and allowed Georgia focus on stopping Kentucky’s pass.
Bright Spots
– Maxwell Smith played a pretty good game this week. His stat line wasn’t all that impressive, but consider that he was beaten to a pulp through much of the game and you have to be impressed with his play. Smith still clearly has a ways to go before he is going to be considered a legit passing threat in this conference.
– Ryan Tydlacka was once again, awesome. It’s never a GREAT thing to single out the punter every week as one of the best players on the team because that means that he’s on the field a lot. Fortunately for Kentucky, Tydlacka has been one of the most consistent players on the roster and has been able to flip field position in Kentucky’s favor on a weekly basis.
– Danny Trevathan put together another 17 tackle performance. The fact that this is now becoming the norm for him is crazy in itself. He has been one of the best defensive players the Wildcats have ever had.
– The team looked a lot better this week and played with a fire that was nowhere to be seen last week against Vanderbilt.
– The defensive backs played better this week than they have all year. That said, it’s not like they were world beaters. They stopped the bleeding, so that’s something.
Room for improvement
– The defense was gouged by Harton for 101 rushing yards. That is absolutely unacceptable for a third string tailback. If Crowell puts up 100 yards on anyone, I can understand that. But Harton? The team really has to be better.
– Dear lord, these receivers just cannot catch the football consistently. They show flashes of brilliance at times, then they bring you back to reality at others. Lets hope Tee Martin earns his paycheck this offseason and teaches these kids how to catch the football.
– The offensive line played an up-and-down game. At times, the protection was good and the holes were there. At other times, Georgia’s 3-4 defense overpowered them and found themselves in the Kentucky backfield. The unit really needs to be better and more consistent for Kentucky to win in the SEC.
– The running backs t Kentucky just have not impressed me all season. At what point to we get a chance to see Brandon Gainer? I don’t really care if he cannot block or catch the ball out of the backfield, because Sanders, Clemons, Williams and George haven’t impressed me in those areas either. Give the kid a shot, because he really couldn’t do much worse.
Game MVP:
Danny Trevathan