Get a Rhythm: Self-Inflicted Mistakes Killed Kentucky Momentum

Mark Stoops isn’t in the business of taking victories for granted, especially after living through a fall that only had four. However, Kentucky left plenty to be desired in a 24-16 victory over Toledo.

“We will take the victory at any time. Our players are appreciative to be 1-0,” Stoops said Saturday afternoon. “We all know what Toledo is capable of.”

The Rockets were a popular underdog pick in the opening weekend of the college football season. They were predicted to win the MAC and started receiving votes in the AP Poll. We get it. Set all of that aside for a moment, and we all probably agree: BBN spent all afternoon waiting for the Cats to put down their foot on the pedal and run away with a win.

Missed Opportunities

“Offensively, I felt like we were going to get in rhythm, and we hurt ourselves,” Stoops said on Saturday, which felt like something he said on many Saturdays in the fall of 2024.

The Kentucky defense stood strong and got a stop on fourth and short inside the UK 5-yard line. On the very next play, Zach Calzada kept the ball on a read option and was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

“Zach’s gotta hand that ball off. He knows that. There’s no read there. He’s got to hand it, and we got to grind our way off the goal line there. That took a complete possession away from us,” Stoops said.

Two possessions later, the defense came up big with another fourth-down stop in Kentucky territory. The Wildcats went to the air and found Willie Rodriguez, who had plenty of green grass in front of him. After gaining about 30 yards, he fumbled the ball back to Toledo.

“We just gotta take care of the football. Today had a similar feel, of like every time we were about to get something going, there was a self-inflicted wound that hurt us,” said offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan.

Kentucky Must Be Resilient

It was a herky-jerky performance by the Kentucky offense. They’d take one step forward and two steps back. Zach Calzada only completed 10 passes for 85 yards. It never felt like he got comfortable, and Hamdan admitted that he never really did either.

“It’s not even kind of all on him. The coordinator doesn’t feel like he can get into a rhythm. Whether it’s the scheme or guys getting open, or whatever the case might be,” said Hamdan. “Do I think Zach looked in rhythm? No. Did I feel in rhythm? No. Again, I feel just like you guys, the one thing we got going is we’re 1-0 and that’s that. We gotta make a big jump from week one to week two.”

Even though the Wildcat offense never got into a rhythm against Toledo, they found a way to find a way, in large part thanks to Dante Dowdell‘s 79-yard touchdown run. “That was my favorite drive of the game,” Calzada quipped.

It wasn’t the prettiest, and it felt clunky, but the Cats got the job done. Now it’s on to Ole Miss.

“We beat a very good team that’s getting top 25 votes. It’s not like they’re a bad team. We got the victory,” said Stoops. “We all know we need to get better. We all know the competition’s going to improve, but it’s one game. It’s a step in the right direction and we have to go back to work.”