Florida beat Kentucky with splash plays in first part of the Middle 8

The end of the second quarter has been a sticky spot for the Kentucky football program. The beginning of the Middle 8 has not always gone well. The Wildcats ended up splitting the Middle 8 on Saturday (14-14) against Florida, but the start of the key area is where the road team lost the game.

Some big plays by Florida on offense and defense created an avalanche that put a limited Kentucky offense into a three-touchdown hole that was going to be nearly impossible to overcome in The Swamp.

KSR is looking at the three biggest plays from Florida’s 48-20 win.

A huge red zone blunder

Following a Brock Vandagriff interception that gave Florida the ball at their own 46 with 6:53 left in the second quarter, Kentucky’s defense delivered its biggest play of the game. On second-and-three, Alabama safety transfer Kristian Story intercepted an inaccurate throw from DJ Lagway and rumbled 63 yards to give the Kentucky offense a first-and-10 at the Florida 11 with 6:10 left in the second quarter.

Kentucky was 11 yards from evening the game at 13-13 and likely getting to halftime tied or within one possession. The offense just had to get the football in the paint. Bush Hamdan‘s unit couldn’t finish.

After consecutive QB runs set up a third-and-two at the Florida 4, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye avoided a tackle for loss on third down to grind out a yard and create fourth-and-1. Kentucky then went to a heavy set and could not move the chains.

In a 14 personnel jumbo package look, Kentucky went to an under center quick snap with just over four minutes left in the second quarter and got stuffed. Sumo-Karngbaye attempted to jump over the pile but barely made it to the line of scrimmage. A push from some of his teammates appeared to take him across the line to gain, but the officials blew the play dead before that happened.

The turnover on downs quickly started an avalanche after Kentucky ruined an opportunity to take advantage of a big mistake by Florida’s offense.

DJ Lagway to Elijhah Badger

Arizona State transfer Elijhah Badger entered Week 8 leading the Florida offense in targets, receptions, and receiving yards. The new wideout is having a big season in Billy Napier’s offense and is clearly someone who can be a threat in the vertical passing game.

In Saturday’s win, Lagway targeted Badger four times leading to three receptions for 148 yards. The redshirt senior ended the game with three receptions of 40-plus yards. Florida entered the game with only five passes of 40-plus yards through six games. The biggest gain came in the second quarter following the Kentucky turnover on downs.

After a 27-yard run by Jadan Baugh got Florida outside of the shadow of their own goalline, Lagway connected with Badger on a skinny post for a 58-yard gain on a play-action dropback from 12 personnel in the pistol.

Despite Florida motioning into the formation, Kentucky cornerback DJ Waller Jr. is left on an island and gets no safety help. That is concerning since Florida had inside leverage on the route. No one is playing the deep middle and the bomb from Lagway creates a near red zone possession in two plays on a drive that started at the Florida 4.

Kentucky went from tying the score at 13 to falling down 20-6 within five snaps. Florida landed a haymaker with the bomb completion to Badger.

Dropped pass turns into disaster

After falling into the 20-6 hole, the Kentucky offense got the ball back with 2:10 left in the second quarter. The Wildcats were most likely looking to running the clock out and potentially getting into field goal range for the double-dip possession opportunity after winning the toss.

Unfortunately, a big drop turned into a huge play for the Florida defense.

Brock Vandagriff found Barion Brown open on an in-cut at midfield, but the ball bounced off the junior receiver’s hands and into the hands for Florida cornerback Devin Moore.

After a big return gave the Florida offense a first-and-goal at the Kentucky 1, a touchdown run from Jadan Baugh extended the lead to 27-6 with 1:44 left in the second quarter.

In less than four minutes, Florida turned a seven-point lead into a 21-point cushion thanks to an avalanche of big plays from the defense and offense. Kentucky showed some resolve by scoring consecutive touchdowns in the Middle 8 to cut the lead to 27-20, but the three-touchdown deficit was too big to overcome.

Kentucky saw the game slip away the first part of the Middle 8 for the second week in a row after the Cats beat Ole Miss by winning the Middle 8.