Three Plays: Kentucky ruins multiple scoring chances

The biggest takeaway from Saturday’s 16-6 win by Georgia at Kroger Field is perhaps that Kentucky showed they could hang with the No. 1 team in college football. However, winning and hanging are two very different things.

Georgia ran the ball at will against what has been a stout Kentucky defense for most of the season, but the defense was able to bow up in the red zone. Those critical stops gave the offense multiple opportunities to climb back into the game. Rich Scangarello’s offense was able to create four scoring opportunities but three of those ended with no points with the last two occurring in the red zone.

Yet again, the story of the game was Kentucky’s inability to finish drives with points. Let’s dive into the three plays that made the ultimate in UK’s third home loss of the season.

Missed opportunity to begin the game

After Georgia won the coin toss and decided to defer, Kentucky began the game with the football. However, a questionable fair catch ruling had the Cats starting in the shadow of their own endzone. But Will Levis would find Barion Brown on a go-ball down the Georgia sideline on the first third down of the game to get the drive started.

Five plays later, Kentucky had the ball at the Georgia 31. The drive would move no further. After an incompletion and a no-gain run for JuTahn McClain, Rich Scangarello called Chris Rodriguez Jr.’s numbers. Georgia’s defense was ready.

Operating out of the shotgun, Kentucky goes with an inside run to Rodriguez. True freshman Mykel Williams (No. 13) beats left guard Jager Burton with an inside move into the A gap. That blows up the play and bounces the run left. That gives both of Georgia linebackers time to get to the ball and create a tackle for loss to get off the field.

Georgia would respond with a field goal drive to take a 3-0 lead with 4:03 left in the first quarter. That lead would not be lost for the rest of the game.

Red zone turnover

On Kentucky’s second possession of the game, the Wildcats marched 57 yards and milked 10-plus minutes off of the game clock. The Cats had a first-and-10 at the Georgia 16, but a false start by left tackle Deondre Buford put the offense behind the chains. On second and long, Rich Scangarello went to the ground, and the play was held to no gain.

That put the offense in a bad spot. Facing a third-and-12, the Cats got a two-high look from Georgia, and Will Levis tried to fit the ball into a small window. Georgia’s Kelee Ringo created the game’s first takeaway.

After creating two scoring opportunities to start the game, Kentucky came away with zero points. Georgia would tack on three more points with a 24-yard field goal just four minutes later.

Third down miss

After cutting the lead to 10, Kentucky’s defense got the ball right back to the offense with 6.55 left in the game. Will Levis and Barion Brown then went to work.

After two completions between the duo for 58 yards in five plays, Kentucky again had another first down in the red zone. The drive would bog down.

Levis took a sack on second-and-long putting the offense at third-and-13. Kentucky looks to go to Brown again out of a bunch set. Georgia appears to get away with some contact more than five yards down the field.

The pass falls incomplete, and a flag is not thrown. Mark Stoops decides to send the field goal unit out, and a bad snap leads to a miss from Matt Ruffolo. The game essentially ends with another missed opportunity in the red zone.

Since the bye week, Kentucky’s offense has created 18 scoring opportunities (first-and-10 inside your opponents’ 40) in four games. The offense has scored only 48 points for a 2.7 points per opportunity average. That is very, very bad and is ultimately the biggest issue this team has had this season.