Kentucky Wildcats Football: Something Needs to Change

Kentucky fans are still riding high from Saturday’s victory over South Carolina

and rightly so. The game featured a fourteen point comeback over old nemesis Steve Spurrier and a hero performance by sophomore back Jojo Kemp out of the appropriately named Wildcat formation. It was the most exciting moment for this program since sneaking past Tennessee a few years ago. And perhaps the most impressive crowd since Rich Brooks retired. The Cats were able to dig their way out of a two touchdown deficit in each half.

Something that is getting lost a little bit in the afterglow is the series of events that helped dig the fourteen point hole in the first place. In the first half the Wildcats received nearly a hundred yards in penalties whilst the Gamecocks were not flagged once. Perhaps most egregious though, was the Dylan Thompson “fumble recovery” following a high snap. Especially after the play was reviewed. Replay at the stadium and on television made it abundantly clear that Thompson never once controlled the football that Bud Dupree came away with. The ball was still rolling around on the ground when Dupree reached under Thompson and pulled it away. Instead of a momentum-turning turnover for the Wildcats, SC kept the ball and launched a scoring drive that silenced the crowd at Commonwealth.

Perhaps the fans got quiet because they were reminded of the Florida game earlier this month where the Gators scored a touchdown to tie the game in overtime on a play that should have never happened. The playclock hit zero before the ball was snapped and it was obvious to everyone watching. The league issued a statement basically saying that the officials couldn’t see it. It begs the question on how delay of game is ever called on anyone.

These are just the latest in a long line of questionable calls that have gone against the Wildcats in SEC over the years. Right now you are all probably reliving some unpleasant moments as you read this. This article is one that should have been written earlier in the year, but following a win looks a lot less like sour grapes. But the time has come to start asking questions.

Of course every fan base thinks their team gets jobbed from time to time and Kentucky is not the only team to ever lose because of a controversial call by an official. But the sheer volume of controversial calls and they overwhelming number that work against UK just defies the law of averages. Fans aren’t the only ones who see it either, how many times have we listened to announcers talk about how one blown call or another was a “real blow” to Kentucky.

Former coach Rich Brooks even took to Twitter to voice his displeasure last weekend.

Perhaps it’s time that someone at Kentucky take this to the SEC. Last week Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard spoke out about the Cyclones getting the short end of the stick in Big 12 games ever since the Cyclones AD and coach Paul Rhodes had raised an unpopular issue with the league previously. He was fined $25,000 and later made to publically apologize. So perhaps going the public route with any grievances would be unwise for Mitch Barnhart. But Coach Brooks is right, something needs to be said. This can’t be allowed to continue with no pushback.