Kentucky vs. Clemson: After Action Review 

An After Action Review, or AAR for short, is a militaristic format that’s executed to analyze a mission, operation, or action. KSR utilizes a similar method to break down Kentucky’s 38-35 Gator Bowl loss to No. 22 Clemson. KSR intern Daniel Hager co-wrote this post with me.

Situation

Kentucky entered the Gator Bowl with a 7-5 record. The Wildcats finished the regular season with a win over Louisville in the Governor’s Cup. The rivalry game victory appeased the BBN. That W can be viewed as both good and bad.  

The good was that it marked the fifth consecutive win over the Cardinals which lends bragging rights for a year. The bad was it led to real, in-season issues and miscues being swept out the door during and after the celebration.   

Clemson didn’t live up to preseason expectations in 2023. Dabo’s team started 4-4 before finishing the year with four consecutive wins over Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, and South Carolina. The Tigers were hot but shorthanded.  

B.L.U.F (Bottom-Line-Up-Front)

Kentucky is a 10-3 team that finished the season with a 7-6 record after losing to Clemson 38-35 in the Gator Bowl. 

OBJECTIVES VS. RESULTS 

Goals or objectives were provided in my game preview which was co-written by Phoenix Stevens. An AAR is utilized to gauge or grade how Kentucky fared against pregame expectations. Individual tasks or goals are evaluated on a “GO” or “NO-GO” basis. 

OFFENSE

Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.

Turnovers absolutely killed an offense that totaled 398 yards against a defense that entered the game allowing just 305.8 yards per game, which ranked 11th in the country.

Kentucky fans got the complete Devin Leary experience on his way out. Leary finished completing 16-28 passes (57%) for 306 yards and two touchdowns. Where you got the good, you got the bad as well. Shortly after Clemson converted a 14-play drive for six points to cut the deficit to five, Leary was sacked on 3rd & 8 where he fumbled, giving the Tigers the ball on the Kentucky 28-yard line.

However the ‘Cats would escape with no harm done as Jordan Lovett snagged an interception on the next play, but this wouldn’t last for long. On the sixth play of an 18-yard drive, Leary’s pass was batted at the line of scrimmage (a common theme for the season) and intercepted yet again by the Tigers. Clemson this time converted, kicking a field goal to cut it to two.

After back-to-back interceptions, things couldn’t get worse, could they? They did. On the first play of Kentucky’s drive from their own 25-yard line, Barion Brown (who had a monster game) simply let the ball slip out of his hands, handing the Tigers more pristine field position. Clemson finally scored a touchdown off of a Kentucky turnover, taking a 27-21 lead with 6:45 remaining in the game.

Leary’s last interception of the season came on a desperation throw in the final seconds of the game, but that marked an ugly total of four fourth quarter turnovers. It doesn’t matter how good your football team is, that is not going to get the job done.

Ray Davis totaled just 13 carries for 63 yards. 43 of those yards came on one rush, meaning he garnered just 20 yards on 12 carries for the rest of the contest. The Clemson D-Line plugged up any and every hole, forcing Leary to churn offense with his arm.

Clemson defensive coordinator Wesley Goodwin entered the game with one important goal, and that was to keep the ball out of Ray Davis’ hands. He succeeded, and that led to a Gator Bowl victory for the Tigers.

Another common theme all season for the ‘Cats was how important big plays were to their success. This wasn’t a team that could grind their way down the field, totaling 14 or 15 plays en route to a touchdown. They either scored/got into great field position thanks to an explosive play or punted. No in-between.

On their four offensive drives that ended with a touchdown, each drive consisted of four plays or less, totaling more than 73 yards on each drive. The most plays the ‘Cats ran on a drive which ended in a punt was eight for a total of 18 yards. They almost pulled off a win with explosive plays from Ray Davis, Jordan Dingle, Dane Key, and Barion Brown, but the quickness of their scores and their non-scoring drives doomed them in the end.

Kentucky converted four of 11 third-down conversions.

Be The Good Kentucky
Result: NO-GO

Stats were good. Four final period turnovers were not.

Ray Davis 100-Rush Yards
Result: NO-GO

Davis had 13 carries for 63 yards and one touchdown.

Win Turnover Margin
Result: NO-GO

4-2 Clemson. Ball Game. See top goal.

DEFENSE

Brad White’s defense gave up 367 yards to the Tigers, which was just 12 more than they averaged all season (356.4). Clemson’s offense averaged 379.7 yards of offense this season — they were kept under that benchmark. So what went wrong?

After gaining possession with 3:37 remaining in the game, Kentucky scored in three plays, leaving 2:39 on the clock for the Tigers. Clemson would then embark on a 12-play, 68-yard drive that took just two minutes and 22 seconds to take a three-point lead with 17 seconds remaining in the contest.

Clemson’s hurry-up offense winded the Kentucky defense, but no timeouts were called. The Tigers converted a 3rd & 10 with 1:05 remaining and gained 16 yards on a 3rd & 18 with 44 seconds remaining, leading to a 4th & 2 conversion.

At this point in the game, BOTH Maxwell Hairston and Andru Phillips were out of the game due to injury, which left Jordan Robinson and Jantzen Dunn to pick up the slack. Prior to the snap on the aforementioned 3rd & 18, Robinson was playing 10 yards off of Williams, giving Klubnik a great pad of space to fit a nice ball in. Inexcusable, just inexcusable.

In a game that had seen some of the best pressure on a quarterback in years at Kentucky, White pulled up a bit and that came back to cost them again due to their soft prevent defense.

However, Deone Walker further cemented himself as a future NFL starter, as the 6-foot-6, 348-pound DL dominated the Tigers offensive line. Walker totaled four tackles and two sacks, putting the rest of the country on notice for next season.

The Wildcat defense held Clemson to 5-16 on third down conversions but allowed them to convert on both fourth down tries.

Be The Good Kentucky
Result: NO-GO

Just like the offense, the stats were good until late, but it didn’t matter. Up 21-10 then lose 38-35. That leads to a bunch of NO-GOs.  

Cade Klubnik Less than 250 Pass Yards
Result: NO-GO

You may have questioned Phoenix Steven’s goal of less than 250 yards since the Tigers averaged 225 per game. But he nailed it. Klubnik had been pedestrian in 2023. He went 30-41 for 267 against the ‘Cats.  

Sound Tackling
Result: NO-GO

See the first goal.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Do you want the good or the bad first? Okay, here’s the good.

Barion Brown’s boosters

Brown, with his 100-yard kickoff return to open the second half, tied the SEC record for most kickoff return touchdowns in a single season (three) and most kickoff return touchdowns in a career (four).

Here’s the bad.

Wilson Berry’s punt yardage.

Berry’s tough season came to an end as he punted a total of five times for an average of 40.6 yards per kick. That’s not going to get it done, as Clemson often regained possession near their own 35-yard line.

Be The Good Kentucky
Result: GO

Barion Brown Score
Result: GO

Brown sprinted to the end zone on a kickoff return to stretch the lead to 21-10.  

OUTCOME

First, I’d like to thank my guy Daniel Hager for co-writing this AAR. The KSR intern flat out got it done this season on high school fields across the Bluegrass and is building himself quite the brand. I’m thankful for him. I’m also grateful for all the KSR interns who help me to continue to write. Let’s get to business.  

Again, the 2023 Wildcats were a 10-3 team with a 7-6 record. Why? How? I wish I could help you with that. Words don’t come easy anymore. I apologize.  

The Gator Bowl was the fourth 2023 loss that UK had an advantage or excellent opportunity to finish an opponent for a victory in the final period and failed to do so. The Mizzou, Tennessee, South Carolina, and now Clemson games were similar yet different. The final results were the same, an L. I’ll let Nick and Adam give you details, specifics, and stats on how the ‘Cats lost on Friday. I’m trying my best to look at the big picture.  

What’s next? I have a guess 

The offseason will be filled with portal talk blah, blah, blah. On and on we’ll go. That’s fine, but there were bigger issues than personnel in 2023. Gone are the days when Snell and Rodriguez Jr. could salt away a game and a defense that would put their claws into a foe until it choked out.  

There’s no easy way to put it; the past two seasons have been disappointing. Wins were left on the field. Things get harder now that Oklahoma and Texas are coming to the party.  

How can UK re-learn how to win close games? Heck, I have no idea and I study “re-learning” every day. Kentucky was one of, if not the best, recruit and develop programs in the nation for a while. It now is forced to operate in a rent, trade, and lease world.  

That’s a tough transition. I’m not arguing the right or wrong in the modern college football world. Just saying it is what it is until it isn’t.  

I’ve read descriptions of the Gator Bowl as being an instant classic. It might be, but I saw it differently. From my view, the game summarized the 2023 season: Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda. That’s unfortunate. I hurt with Stoops, fans, and the team. Listen, 7-6 isn’t an awful season at UK. But, expectations are now higher. I love my ‘Cats. I just want to see ’em win winnable games.  

So here we go. The circle of college football life starts today. Let the offseason “fun” begin.