Kentucky defense had no answers for the Alabama offense

The Kentucky defense got shelled by Alabama. Once one of the best units in the SEC, Brad White’s group has now given up 30+ points to every top 25 offense they’ve faced this fall. Saturday afternoon they let Alabama score 49, a new season-high for the Crimson Tide against an SEC foe.

How did it get so bad? A myriad of factors are in play, but it all starts with one horrific number. Alabama converted 7-of-11 third downs (63.6%)

“I wish we would have executed better,” the Kentucky head coach said after the loss. “I think what was disappointing, really third downs on both sides. They converted an extremely high percentage of third downs. We didn’t get very good pressure. We tried blitzing, tried zero, tried coverage, a little bit of everything, and to their credit, they made plays.”

Alabama had beaters, but it’s nothing new to this defense. Kentucky entered the game ranked No. 100 in the FBS on third down defense by allowing opponents to convert better than 42% of the time. This group just can’t get off the field on the money down.

“Ultimately, we just gotta find the right mixture,” said defensive coordinator Brad White. “I’m not doing a good enough job of finding that mixture and that’s on me.”

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Zero Sacks for Kentucky

A big part of the problem on third down is the pass rush. The Alabama offensive line under-performed expectations all year long. One of the worst pass protection units in the country, only two power five programs have allowed more sacks (37) than the Crimson Tide. Kentucky forced Milroe out of the pocket at times, but failed to record one quarterback sack.

“We got negative yardage plays, and then they came back and converted some third downs and third and longs. It was really disappointing,” said Stoops. “We did a very poor job of getting pressure, whether it was straight rushing or pressures, any of it. We did a poor job today.

Another Blowout Loss to a Top 10 Team

Mark Stoops is 1-17 all-time against Top 10 teams. The previous nine losses looked a lot like this one, with an average margin of defeat right around 28 points per game. “I thought we were passed this,” is a sentiment shared by many Kentucky fans following the latest blowout loss. I asked Mark Stoops after the game for his thoughts on the criticism:

“Our team, the ability to get up is one thing. The ability to compete with some of the, you know, top ten teams I think, you know — some of these teams are 1 and 2. That’s a little different than some of your average teams. But there is nothing average about that team.”

After the game @RoushKSR asked Mark Stoops about Kentucky against Top 10 teams.

Watch Stoops' entire postgame press conference: https://t.co/FqCGDKTxmw pic.twitter.com/EMuEdil9Th

— KSR (@KSRonX) November 11, 2023