Bad Start Dooms Upset Hopes
A week after being Mississippi State on the road the Kentucky football team returned home for Senior Day. However, the Wildcats faced a really tough task against one of the hottest teams in football. A bad start once again doomed the Cats and they couldn’t recover. Let’s break it down as Alabama blows out Kentucky 49-21.
Not the Start Kentucky Was Hoping For
In our game preview, we said for Mark Stoops’ team to have any chance at springing the upset they needed a quick start. Unfortunately, the complete opposite happened as Alabama jumped out to a 21-0 lead before Kentucky got a first down.
The Alabama faithful had to hold their breath on the game’s first possession as Jalen Milroe went down after a hard hit to his leg. However, he was only out for one play. After returning he completed four straight passes, the final going 26 yards to Amari Niblack, and it was 7-0.
A three-and-out led to another Alabama score and that was followed by a Barion Brown fumble. One play later it was 21-0. Kentucky finally got a first down and later a touchdown when Devin Leary found Tayvion Robinson on a six-yard score cutting the lead to 14. The Wildcats had a chance to make things interesting midway through the second quarter. However, Kentucky was stopped on a fourth and two at the Alabama nine-yard line. A Milroe to Roydell Williams touchdown strike made it 28-7 at the half.
No Answer For Milroe
When Kentucky opened the second half with a score, Milroe answered right back. First converting a third and 18 then taking it the final three making it 35-14 and the game, if it wasn’t over already, but put out of reach then.
A week ago against LSU the Alabama signal caller had a career day rushing for 155 yards and four touchdowns to go along with 219 yards passing. Against Kentucky, the sophomore had another impressive day. While he only ran for 36 yards, due in part to the leg injury, he still ran for three touchdowns. In addition, he threw for 234 yards and three more scores. Milroe did most of his work in three quarters as he sat out most of the last 15 minutes. Nick Saban’s team scored early and often as Alabama blew out Kentucky 49-21.
Looking Ahead
With the win, the Crimson Tide rolled to a seventh straight win, to 9-1 on the season, and 7-0 in the SEC. They also clinched the SEC West title and head to their third SEC Championship game in the last four seasons. They’ll step out of the conference next week when they host Chattanooga. In addition, they keep their slim playoff hopes alive as they need to keep winning and hope the teams above them lose. We’ll see if the big win helps their bowl projection.
Alabama moves to 39-2-1 all-time against Kentucky and has won eight straight since UK won back in 1997. Furthermore, Saban runs his record all-time against the Cats to 9-0 and 6-0 at Alabama.
As for the Wildcats, they dropped to 6-4 on the year and 3-4 in the league. Next Saturday they’ll finish out conference play when they travel to South Carolina. Kentucky will be looking to avenge a 24-14 loss in Lexington last year. However, the Cats were without Will Levis for that one. Shane Beamer’s club had no trouble with Vanderbilt winning 47-6.
Final Thoughts
In Kentucky’s four losses, all to top 15 teams, there’s been one big underlying thread. The defense has struggled in every game and it happened again on Saturday. During the three-game losing streak, Brad White’s group gave up an average of 40 points a game and over 450 yards. Alabama was right on those numbers with 444 yards and 49 points. The Wildcats did force two turnovers but couldn’t convert in key situations. Too many times receivers were wide open making things easy for Milroe.
Another issue that has been a season-long one is punting and field position. Of the seven touchdown drives five started on the Alabama 35-yard line or better. The other two started in Kentucky territory. You have to play near perfect to win against the Crimson Tide and the Cats were nowhere close. It’s one of the big reasons why Alabama blows out Kentucky 49-21.
Thanks for checking out our recap here at Last Word On College Football. We’ll be back soon with a South Carolina preview.
