Iowa's defense, special teams dominate Kentucky in Music City Bowl

Punt to win. No one does it better than the Iowa Hawkeyes. Kentucky got a full taste of the Kirk Ferentz experience in the Big Ten West on Saturday.

The Hawks win games consistently despite having one of the worst offenses in college football. How do they do it? With an elite kicking game and an awesome defense that creates turnovers.

Kentucky’s long non-conference winning streak came to an end on Saturday at the Music City Bowl as Iowa grabbed an early lead and never looked back. A new offensive coordinator hire will become public soon and the program’s first bowl game loss since 2017 showed that there is a lot to be fixed on that side of the football.

Before getting into how things could change in the offseason, it’s time to reflect on the last game of the season. Once again, it was a very hard watch as Kentucky labored on offense and special teams. Mark Stoops’ football team did not give itself a chance to win despite a strong defensive performance.

Tory Taylor was the Music City Bowl MVP

Iowa has one of the best punters in college football. Tory Taylor entered the Music City Bowl ranking No. 15 nationally in net punting average (41.2) with 32 punts being downed inside the 20. The Australian might have just had the best performance of his collegiate career.

Taylor punted eight times with a 45.1-yard net average with six of those punts being downed inside the 20. Due to his efficient and explosive work, the Hawks built a plus-14 yard advantage (Own 35 to Own 21) in average starting field position. Consecutive punts landing inside the 10 helped create a short field that turned into Iowa’s only offensive touchdown of the game. Another punt downed inside the 10 in the second quarter led to Iowa’s second pick-six of the game.

Taylor was the best player at Nissan Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Top-five Iowa defense smothers young Kentucky offense

Kentucky entered Saturday’s game without an offensive coordinator and with a young quarterback making his first career start. The Cats were also playing without All-SEC tailback Chris Rodriguez. That was going to make things extremely tough when facing defensive coordinator Phil Parker and his zone-heavy Iowa defense.

Not surprisingly, the Big Ten team dominated this matchup.

Iowa held Kentucky to a 26.1 percent success rate and 2.7 yards per play in 69 snaps over 14 possessions. The Wildcats ended the game with 10 punts, two turnover on downs, and two turnovers. The drive chart is tough to look at.

Parker’s unit produced an absurd 20 havoc plays in those 69 snaps highlighted by four sacks and two takeaways that turned directly into defensive touchdowns. Destin Wade rode the struggle bus in his first start at quarterback averaging just 3.3 yards per attempt.

Iowa has an elite defense and played to their reputation smothering what has been a disappointing Kentucky offense in 2022.

Kentucky’s defense played winning football

Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White has had a top-15 defense all season. The Wildcats played like it on Saturday.

The Cats held the Iowa offense to just 7 points on 13 possessions with eight three-and-outs. Iowa’s only touchdown drive needed to go just 42 yards after the two teams traded punts to give the Hawks a huge field position advantage.

UK didn’t force a takeaway and that was going to be needed to win this game, but the defense did everything else required. The Cats held Iowa to 0 of 13 on third/fourth down, limited the Hawkeyes to just 67 rushing yards, and gave up just one score in three scoring opportunities.

The defense played good enough to win on Saturday.

A frustrating season finally ends

Kentucky entered the 2022 college football season with sky-high expectations. On paper, there was a lot to believe in. Unfortunately, the Cats came very short of those expectations.

The offensive line might have been the worst in the Power Five for most of the season. Will Levis was unable to reach the elite level that many thought he could get to, and Rich Scangarello was a bad fit at offensive coordinator.

The kicking game had numerous outings that were downright embarrassing. Despite having a defense that played at a top-15 level, Kentucky finished the year at 7-6 with home losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt as betting favorites. The Cats got some good wins over Florida, Louisville, and Mississippi State but there was more frustration than celebration.

UK ruined a winning opportunity at Ole Miss with a terrific road crowd in a top-15 matchup. Kentucky got back in primetime and got ran out of the stadium against Tennessee on Halloween weekend. Against the only two top-10 defenses on the schedule, the offense scored six combined points in eight quarters.

This was not a fun season for any party involved. Kentucky has had a positive offseason that should get some more good news made official soon, but there is a lot to fix. The Cats cannot have another season like we just saw on offense and special teams.

Kentucky avoided disaster by beating Louisville, but there were some truly ugly moments during the year and this program missed a great opportunity with eight home games and a somewhat down year in the SEC. It’s time to get back to the drawing board so another swing and miss doesn’t happen again when another great opportunity presents itself for Kentucky football.

A huge season awaits in 2023.