Kentucky had no answers for Auburn after fast start

Kentucky entered Week 9 having had to play from behind in almost every SEC game this season. Outside of the 13-12 loss to Georgia in Week 3, we consistently saw this team fall behind early in the first quarter. What would happen if this team could build even a two-possession lead to start a game?

We got the answer on Saturday night at Kroger Field in front of 60,605 fans on a chilly night in the Bluegrass. After building a 10-0 lead, Kentucky saw Auburn rip off 24 consecutive points before kneeling out the clock in the low red zone to end the game.

The Cats are now 3-5 (1-5) and look like a football team that does not have any answers. KSR is recapping another deflating home loss on a late night live from the Kroger Field press box.

The offense continues to have the same issues

Bush Hamdan‘s offense showed some real life to begin the football game. A 21-yard completion to Dane Key got Kentucky into field goal range to begin the game. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Wildcats marched 53 yards in seven plays to grab a 10-0 lead. In the first two series, Kentucky scored on each scoring opportunity and registered three explosive plays in 12 snaps.

But that all ended after a JQ Hardaway interception gave the Wildcats the football at the Auburn 40. A three-and-out with a sack on third down was a sign of things to come.

Through the rest of the game, Kentucky generated only four explosive plays on 42 snaps and scored zero points on their last two scoring opportunities. For the third game in a row, Kentucky had the ball inside the five in the low red zone and came away with zero points.

The same problems remained the same problems.

Kentucky cannot finish drives and cannot create explosive plays. Hamdan turned to backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt in the second half but the Wildcats generated only six yards in seven offensive snaps in the third quarter before the only drive in the fourth quarter ended in a low red zone interception on fourth down.

The Kentucky offense continues to labor having scored only 74 offensive points through six SEC games. You cannot win football games scoring 12.3 points per game. You cannot score points unless you create chunk gains and finish in the red zone.

Kentucky’s big-play prevention has disappeared

Under defensive coordinator Brad White, Kentucky has typically hung its hand on big-play prevention. The Wildcats want to eliminate the chunk play and force teams to score points by going on long, sustained drives. However, a poor season on pass defense and on third down in 2023 forced Kentucky to play more aggressively.

Now the Wildcats seemingly cannot stop anything.

Auburn generated 351 yards on 17 explosive plays in the program’s first conference win of the season. After getting shredded by Florida in the air, Auburn beat Kentucky on the ground.

The Tigers rolled up 361 non-sack rushing yards in the win on 8.4 yards per rush. This marked the second game in a row that Kentucky allowed over 200 non-sack rushing yards. The Wildcats also allowed another SEC tailback to set a career-high in rushing yards.

Kentucky had no answers for Jarquez Hunter.

HAVE A NIGHT, @JArquez27 😱 pic.twitter.com/3CgCUNe85O

— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) October 27, 2024

The future pro finished the game with 297 yards from scrimmage and three plays of 40-plus yards. Kentucky’s defense got exposed in the big-play department again in an SEC game and Auburn did it differently than Florida.

That is very concerning for this football team moving forward.

Kentucky is on the brink

Kentucky’s eight-game bowl streak is in serious jeopardy. A losing season for the first time (non-COVID) since 2015 seems likely. Winning one SEC game or less seems likely for the first time since 2013. The arrow for this program definitely appears to be pointing down.

The same issues for the Kentucky offense are remaining issues and now we’ve seen some legitimate slippage from a defense that was playing at a borderline top-10 level for the first month of the season. Things are more than teetering.

Where does Kentucky go for answers? That is a great question. The move to the backup quarterback didn’t exactly fix things and Kentucky’s defensive front is no longer winning the point-of-attack battle. That puts this team in a dangerous place with four games remaining on the schedule.

It feels like things could get worse before they get better. That’s even before thinking about the offseason.