Cutting Turnovers Key for Kentucky to Win Big on the Road

Tony D’Amato taught us that football is a game of inches. This certainly applies to Kentucky football in the SEC.

“Where we’re at, the margin for error, we have to make the best of every situation,” Mark Stoops said at SEC Media Days.

Kentucky has not done that over the last two seasons. The Wildcats were inches away from being 9-3 instead of 7-5.

The most clear-cut example happened two seasons ago in Oxford when Barion Brown was flagged for illegal motion. Will Levis snapped the ball before the wide receiver was set, erasing a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute. Last year Kentucky turned the ball over three times in South Carolina territory, resulting in a three-point loss. The Cats almost let a Governor’s Cup win slip away thanks to a late interception.

To get back on the right path, Kentucky must scratch and claw for every inch to find success within that thin margin of error. Randall Cobb did not play for the best Kentucky football teams, but he was a part of some of the best road wins in recent memory. For the Cats to see similar success on the road at Texas, Ole Miss, Florida, and Tennessee this fall, the recipe is simple: take care of the football.

“The biggest thing is the turnover margin, being able to protect the ball, being able to stay on the field on third downs, and get off the field defensively on third downs and give your offense more opportunities,” Cobb told KSR last week.

Kentucky did not have a win over Bobby Petrino until Arkansas committed two fourth-quarter turnovers, opening the door for the Cats to complete a 13-point comeback. The last time the Wildcats defeated Georgia was in 2009. Kentucky overcame a two-touchdown deficit between the hedges by holding a 4-0 turnover advantage. The following season the Wildcats won by one score at Louisville when the Cards turned it over twice.

Kentucky’s first-ever win over Steve Spurrier was another comeback victory. South Carolina, who would go on to win the SEC East, turned the ball over four times. The final giveaway was with seconds on the clock when Spurrier chose to throw it into the end zone instead of forcing overtime with a field goal.

“We were down pretty big that game and found a way to come back and get a victory at home,” said Cobb. “I just remember the feeling of all the fans rushing the field. That’s one of those memories that lives on with you forever.”

Kentucky can give Big Blue Nation more lasting memories by cutting out the turnover bug. The Wildcats’ 20 turnovers were the most in the SEC in 2023. It’s impossible to erase all mistakes completely, but the margin of error has never been so slim for this program.

“We’ve got to get better,” said Stoops. “We’ve got to find a way to make those plays in critical moments to push us over the top.”

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