Kentucky Wildcats vs. Georgia Bulldogs: The Pick 6 And What Could Have Been

It's been exactly three days and I still can't get over the pick-six and what that might have been for the Kentucky Wildcats upsetting the Georgia Bulldogs. Here's how it all played out; it was 3rd and 7 in the 2nd Quarter of a tight game. Kentucky had a small 3-0 lead over the Bulldogs. The Kentucky defense was giving Georgia everything it could handle and the defensive line was absolutely causing havoc both in the running game and the passing game.

Georgia QB Carson Beck dropped back to pass and threw a dart to Dominic Lovett. Lovett was breaking open but had to throw himself to the ground to make a play on the ball. As he did that, the ball bounced off his hands, into the hair, where Zion Childress snatched it and ran it back for a touchdown.

That was the call on the field; an interception for a touchdown. This matters because without indisputable evidence you cannot overturn a call. It has to be clear to change it one way or the other. This call was close enough that the call on the field, seemed as if it would matter. If it was called incomplete, I felt it would stand as incomplete. If it was called an interception, I felt it would stand. To be clear, Childress clearly caught the ball. That's not the completion in jeopardy. It was whether or not it hit the ground when Lovett was trying to catch it. Here, take a look at it again:

On replay review, it does look like the ball hits the ground, but you couldn't tell if Lovett had his hand under and if he had control through the ground. It was so close, that it felt like the call should have stood; interception for touchdown. In fact, that's what the ABC announcers and the rules analyst assumed would happen. There simply wasn't enough evidence to overturn the call on the field.

This was a pivotal change in momentum and ultimately the game. Mark Stoops even mentioned in his press conference that it was one of the calls he sent to the SEC office for review. Along with some other questionable calls.

The question will be what will the SEC actually tell Mark Stoops? It feels like they will say "Tough luck." But even if they do address Stoops' concerns, he won't be able to share what they told him. SEC doesn't always want full transparency or accountability.

It will go down in Kentucky football history as what could have been and that's frustrating but Coach Stoops is right, "It is what it is" we can be frustrated but it's on to the next, and if anything, this team proved they can match up against anyone. The South Carolina embarrassment was not who this Wildcat team is or will be.