Undermanned Cats No Match For Top Ranked Tide
Playing Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa is a difficult enough task for any football team. However, heading into Saturday the Wildcats were down a number of players including several starters due to illness and injury. What started out very promising quickly snowballed out of control. In what was Mark Stoops’ worst loss as a head coach Alabama blows out Kentucky 63-3.
Mistakes Prove Costly
The hardest snap in the history of snaps
— PFF College (@PFF_College) November 21, 2020
On their next possession the Cats again had trouble with the snap and missed another field goal. Kentucky could have put up at least 13 points on those three drives. Would it made a difference in the end? More than likely no but you can’t miss opportunities against Alabama because eventually they’ll take advantage of your mistakes. That’s just what they did heading into the half with a 28-3 lead.
Putting The Game Away
Kelvin Joseph picked off a Mac Jones pass to begin the second half, however the Cats couldn’t capitalize on it. On their next drive things only got worse as Jordan Battle took a Wilson throw 45 yards to the house putting the Tide up 35-3 and effectively ending whatever faint hopes True Blue Fans had. Following the pick six Kentucky punted on every drive for the rest of the game as Jones and the rest of the top ranked Crimson Tide made easy work of Kentucky.
For the game the former Kentucky commit threw for 230 yards with two touchdowns and the one interception, only his third of the year. Najee Harris added 83 yards and two scores on the ground. However the player of the game was Devonta Smith, who lit up Kentucky for nine receptions, 144 yards and two touchdowns. In addition he passed Amari Cooper’s SEC record of 31 touchdown catches. In our preview we said the Cats had to stop Smith which they failed to do. Add it all up and it’s easy to see how Alabama blows out Kentucky 63-3.
A History Making Loss
Saturday’s 60 point margin marks the largest loss for Stoops in his eight years at Kentucky. The previous was 42 in a 59-17 Georgia win on November 23, 2013 his first year in Lexington. In addition it’s the fifth worst loss in school history.
The Big Blue Nation still has bad dreams about those back to back trips to “The Swamp.” Especially the 1996 game where Tim Couch tried to run the option.
Looking Ahead
With the win Alabama moves to 7-0 on the season and will hold onto the top spot in the rankings. In addition they’ll remain the top seed in the Last Word bowl projections, where we have them playing Clemson in the Sugar Bowl. Up next for the Crimson Tide is the annual “Iron Bowl” battle against Auburn.
As for Kentucky they drop to 3-5 on the season and the schedule certainly doesn’t get any easier when they travel to Florida. The SEC East leaders knocked off Vanderbilt 38-17 on Saturday. Of course two years ago Stoops’ troops went into Gainesville and broke a 31 game losing streak to Florida.
Again Alabama blows out Kentucky 63-3 in what is not only Mark Stoops’ worst loss at UK but the fifth biggest losing margin in school history. Eight years into the job in Lexington most Kentucky fans thought the program was well past games likes this. Even against the current measuring stick of college football there’s no way the Cats should lose by 60 to anyone.
Of course it has been a rough few weeks for the program first with the death of offensive line coach John Schlarman. Then throw in playing the nation’s best team without many of your best players.
It’s one thing to lose to Alabama because they are better than you
It’s another thing to lose because you shoot yourself in the foot with terrible mistake after mistake
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) November 21, 2020
Thanks for checking out our recap here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be back with a preview of the Florida game later this week. In the meantime take a look at all the great content here at the site.
