Kentucky fans see another Lexington letdown as the Wildcats lose at home again

The Southeastern Conference gave Kentucky a demanding 2024 schedule with road trips to Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas, plus a home game against No. 1 Georgia. Those were four playoff contenders in preseason conversations, and the thought process around Big Blue Nation was to defend home field in all games but Georgia and hope for the best in those challenges outside of Lexington.

Kentucky did not defend its home field in Lexington. In fact, Kentucky did the opposite, losing all four of its home SEC games in Kroger Field, an inconceivable outcome before the season began but a reality on October 26. Even worse, Kentucky was the betting favorite in three of the four losses, letdowns against South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Auburn. Those were the three games the Wildcats couldn’t afford to lose, but did. The Georgia game was the closest contest of the four, shockingly.

Kentucky’s home struggles aren’t unique to this team and this season. The loss to Auburn was Kentucky’s 11th in the last 13 SEC home games, an embarrassing conference record on the Wildcats’ own turf. In an era when fans are asked to “pony up” more dollars for roster construction and the increasing costs of attending games, the Big Blue Nation responded well, only to see home loss after home loss against league teams.

Looking back, Kentucky has beaten only two teams, Mississippi State (2022) and Florida (2023), in the last three seasons at Kroger Field. The Florida win, known as the Ray Davis game, was 392 days ago. It will be another 300+ days until Kentucky has another opportunity for an SEC home win.

I’d love to tell you why Kentucky played so poorly at home lately, but Mark Stoops himself doesn’t have the answers. He was searching for answers after Vanderbilt won its second straight game in Lexington two weeks ago. “Sometimes I think guys get in this environment, they get at home, and they press, and they just push, you know, too much,” Stoops said.

After Auburn won its first SEC game of the year in Lexington, Stoops said, “Bottom line, we got beat.”

Kentucky’s bowl streak is in serious trouble

The Wildcats needed to beat a bad Auburn team to keep some optimism around the team’s shot at bowl eligibility. Kentucky played in a school-record eight straight bowl games heading into the year, but a ninth now seems unlikely with four games to win three, and only one, Murray State, to feel good about.

Now, because of the duds in Lexington and another missed opportunity in Gainesville, it will take beating Louisville in the Governor’s Cup and a road win against a top-10 team at either Tennessee or Texas. Anyone feel good about either of those road games? Does anyone even feel good about Louisville in the regular season finale?

Looking at the SEC standings, it’s likely that Kentucky will finish 15th out of 16 teams when the 2024 season goes final, with three of the losses coming against teams picked to finish behind Kentucky in the preseason poll. Mark Stoops took the program to new heights by regularly beating South Carolina, Missouri, and Vanderbilt, but those teams have since turned the tables. South Carolina is 3-0 in its last three against UK; Vanderbilt is 2-1, with both wins coming in Lexington; and Missouri might’ve started the Kroger Field curse by scoring 38 unanswered points in a 2023 win in Lexington. Kentucky is 2-9 in the conference since going up 14-0 on the Tigers in the first quarter of that mid-October meltdown last season. It’s been nothing but Lexington letdowns since.

Kentucky has their most consecutive SEC home losses (7) since 2012-2013 (8)

— Corey Price (@coreyp08) October 27, 2024

Next week, Kentucky heads to Knoxville to play Tennessee under the lights of Neyland Stadium. Kickoff for that game was assigned the 7:45 p.m. slot, meaning Vols fans will likely be on their worst behavior for the late start. Tennessee will have had two weeks to prepare for that game, too.

It’s why Kentucky needed to take care of business at home, but that proved to be too much to ask of this team, for whatever reason(s). Now, Mark Stoops is facing more criticism than he has seen in Lexington and the fan base has several reasons to check out. The Big Blue Nation did its part, only to go home disappointed again and again and again.