Every phase fails Kentucky in another SEC home loss

Did we watch the same movie at Kroger Field again on Saturday night? It certainly felt like it. In front of a sold-out crowd on homecoming, Kentucky left their home stadium with a ninth loss in their last 11 SEC games. Like the Week 2 loss to South Carolina, all three phases came up short in situational football and failed the team.

In a 20-13 home loss to Vanderbilt, the Wildcats could not finish drives, win in the Middle Eight, or even complete a snap on field goal attempts. All of that played a role in the disappointing loss.

Kentucky leaves points on the board

We all knew the matchup with Vanderbilt would include limited possessions for the Kentucky offense. That means the Wildcats had to maximize created scoring opportunities against the Commodores.

Bush Hamdan‘s offense did not do that.

Kentucky finished the game averaging 5.8 yards per non-kneel play with a 48.2 percent success rate and created five scoring opportunities in seven possessions. That is getting the job done, but you have to finish drives with points. The Wildcats struggled to do that on Saturday.

An unsportsmanlike penalty on Dane Key turned a third-and-two at the Vanderbilt 29 into a drive ending in a punt on the first possession of the game. That was a sign of things to come. A lost fumble by Key in the second quarter took away a likely red zone possession. A pre-snap penalty on the first possession of the second half turned a second-and-goal at the Vanderbilt 1 into a dropped snap on a field goal attempt.

The Wildcats consistently moved the football but did not have a play longer than 23 yards. Creating explosives remains an issue, and some untimely penalties directly took points off the scoreboard.

In a one-possession loss, all those blunders on offense stand out in a big way. This unit dropped the ball on Saturday, and leaves Week 6 having only scored four touchdowns in four SEC games.

Defense cannot find stops in the Middle 8

Football coaches choose to defer after winning the coin toss to get the double-dip possession opportunity at the end of the second quarter and the beginning of the third quarter. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea was rewarded for that decision.

Vanderbilt played complementary football at the end of the second quarter with a good punt, leading to a quick stop, and ultimately flipping field position. The Commodores started their final drive of the first half at their own 40 with 1:35 left in the second quarter. Six plays later, Vandy took a 14-7 lead with 13 seconds left in the second quarter. After the half, Vandy marched 44 yards on 11 plays, milking over seven minutes off the game clock, and took a 17-7 lead on a Brock Taylor 49-yard field goal.

With the game in the balance, Kentucky’s defense had some opportunities to get off the field and win in a huge high-leverage situation. Instead, Vanderbilt put 10 points on the board before Kentucky’s offense could touch the ball again.

The Kentucky defense played well enough to win on Saturday, but the unit came up short in some critical moments, and that made a big difference in the game.

Lack of winning plays

There were multiple dropped snaps, over 100 penalty yards, and two turnovers lost in seven possessions. Kentucky punted only twice and had possession of the ball inside the Vanderbilt 30 five times and only produced 13 points.

The Wildcats struggled to make winning plays on Saturday. That ultimately led to another disappointing home loss.

Kentucky shot itself in the foot consistently on offense, gave up a 53.8 percent success rate on defense, and just could not finish when they needed to finish. That leaves the team reeling once again.

Mark Stoops and his team are now 3-3 (1-3) at the midway point with three SEC road games and a home contest against Louisville remaining on the schedule. There is time to show some resolve, but the remaining schedule is difficult. The season could still get off the tracks if Kentucky does not start making winning plays in crunch time again.