An unconventional football game ended with another Wildcat loss. The wheels came flying off in a hurry as Florida snapped a three-game losing streak to Kentucky with a 48-20 win.
Kentucky fielded one of the best defenses in the Southeastern Conference. It didn’t look like that against a true freshman quarterback.
In his first SEC start against, DJ Lagway dropped one bomb after another to open receivers downfield. He only completed seven passes, but they went for 259 yards. Florida connected on five passes of 40+ yards.
It wasn’t just the pass defense that was bad. Kentucky entered the game with the tenth-ranked rushing defense in the country. They had only allowed four rushing touchdowns all season. True freshman Jadan Baugh rushed for five touchdowns against the Cats.
The offense had its fair share of issues too, as you might expect. When Lagway made a crucial mistake, Kristian Story made him pay with an interception and nearly returned it for a touchdown. Kentucky started the drive on the 11-yard line with a chance to tie the game. They were stuffed on fourth and 1 and for the second straight week, the Wildcats had the ball inside the five and came away with zero points.
Kentucky waved the white flag by putting QB Cutter Boley into the game with less than four minutes to play. The true freshman’s first pass was a pick six.
With the loss, Kentucky drops to 3-4, 1-4 in SEC play. Kentucky still has not scored more than 20 points in SEC play and they needed a special teams touchdown to reach that mark tonight. The future looks bleak.
One Cool Play by the Kentucky Offense
The Kentucky offense had a lifeless start until Bush Hamdan dipped into a bag of tricks we didn’t know existed. The Cats ran a flea-flicker and it was executed to perfection, resulting in a 45-yard touchdown pass to Barion Brown. Instead of taking the lead, Kentucky missed the ensuing PAT because we can’t have nice things. The Cats never led in The Swamp.
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Wild Segment from Barion Brown
Trailing by two touchdowns with approximately two minutes left until halftime, Kentucky had a chance to win the Middle Eight with a score and the first possession of the second half. Barion Brown wiggled free to get wide open near midfield. Brock Vandagriff‘s pass hit the wide receiver in the hands and it bounced right off of them and into Devin Moore‘s, who was stopped one yard short of the end zone.
The Cats looked cooked. Then Brown made up for his bad play with a big play of his own. He received the ensuing kickoff and found an open lane to return it 99 yards for a touchdown. Brown now holds the SEC record for career kickoff return touchdowns with five.
Controversial Late Florida Touchdown
Kentucky opened the third quarter with a methodical touchdown-scoring drive to make it a 7-point game. The Florida explosive plays followed, but Kentucky bowed up in the red zone, shoving Lagway out of bounds at the 1-yard line. Kentucky appeared to stuff the inside run. One official ruled a fourth down, while another gave the Gators a touchdown.
Kentucky fans were furious, especially when the SEC Network had maybe one camera in position to see if Jadan Baugh successfully extended the ball over the line. Nevertheless, the touchdown made it a 14-point game and essentially put the game away for good.
Box Score from the Kentucky Loss
