If you’re a Kentucky football fan, today has felt like déjà vu wrapped inside a migraine.
As the Governor’s Cup heads into the fourth quarter with Louisville leading 27–0, the themes are painfully familiar: questionable decisions, inconsistent aggression, and a team that looks completely unprepared in a rivalry game.
And ironically, Louisville entered this one without their top wide receiver and their top three running backs. Forced to rely on a freshman walk-on, the Cardinals still gashed Kentucky for 82 yards on 16 carries through three quarters.
When a rival is this depleted and still dominating the trenches, that says something about the direction of your program.
But it was the decision-making in the third quarter that perfectly encapsulated the "Lost" era of Mark Stoops.
The sequence of sadness for Kentucky football
Let's break down the sequence that had Big Blue Nation screaming at their televisions.
With Kentucky trailing 20–0 and 11 minutes left in the third, Stoops faced a 4th-and-2 from his own 21. He sent out the punt team. Okay, fine. Conservative. Flip the field. No big deal.
But just two minutes later, facing a 4th-and-1 from his own 15, Stoops decided to go for it. Huh?
What changed in 120 seconds? Nearly nothing. But it gave the Cards a very short field and the deficit grew to 27 points.
Disorganized chaos
But the decision wasn't even the worst part. The execution was unforgivable.
Kentucky couldn’t get lined up, eerily reminiscent of the Ole Miss debacle earlier this year. Players were scrambling. The play clock was ticking down. Instead of burning a timeout to save the play, Stoops let it roll.
Predictably, it ended in disaster. A chaotic, illegal motion penalty would have wiped out a play that had no chance anyway. Cutter Boley threw to a spot where he thought his receiver would be, only to find that Kendrick Law had set the route down in an empty zone. It was too far out in front and Law couldn't snag it with the pace that Boley put on it.
Guessing games
On the very next possession, Kentucky drove 44 yards before stalling. Facing a 4th-and-12 from Louisville's 31 down 27-0, it looked like Stoops trotted out the field goal team. Or maybe the punt team? The camera angle wasn't freat, but it didn't matter as it was a pick. But why are you punting or kicking the field goal there?
You can call today’s approach conservative. You can call it reckless. But the truth is, it looks like neither.
It looks lost.
No identity. No plan. No organizational structure. This is Year 13. This is a rivalry game. And Kentucky looks completely outclassed by a Louisville team missing half its offense. And Kentucky had everything to play for.
2025 has less than one quarter left. Something has to change, and it's not just the offensive coordinator. This kind of effort should cost Mark Stoops his job. Micah 7:7.