Heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale, the Kentucky football team had one job. That was beating their arch-rival Louisville and getting to the six-win plateau. As a result, Mark Stoops’ club would find itself in a bowl for the ninth time in the last ten years. Facing an injury-riddled U of L squad, expectations were high even when playing on the road. However, the Wildcats failed about as miserably as one football team can. It wasn’t pretty, but let’s take a look as Louisville dominates the Governor’s Cup 41-0.
Wildcats Have No Answers For The Cards
Moss Was The Man
After missing last week’s loss against SMU, there was doubt whether quarterback Miller Moss would play. He said he’d give it a go, and what a game he had. Moss threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns. In addition, he added another 18 yards running the ball and a fourth score.
On the other side of the ball, Kentucky quarterback Cutter Boley struggled again versus the Cards. In last season’s finale, Boley made his first start, and it didn’t go well. In that 41-14 loss, he went 6-15 for 48 yards and two interceptions. Saturday wasn’t much better. This time around, he hit on 14 of 27 throws for 107 yards and two more picks.
Home-Grown Stars Lead The Way
In our game preview, we talked about Louisville being down their top three running backs and leading wide receiver. As it turned out, that really didn’t matter. Many times in this rivalry game, players from the Commonwealth end up having big games. Saturday was no exception.
Braxton Jennings, a freshman walk-on from Ashland, had gained 87 yards all season. Against the Wildcats, he looked like a lead back. For the game, he rushed for 113 yards on 2o carries. As if that wasn’t enough, Shawn Boykins Jr., a converted wide receiver from North Hardin, carried the ball 22 times for 101 yards and a score.
Compare that to the Wildcat rushing attack, or lack thereof. The Wildcats only mustered 40 yards on the ground. That’s coming off a paltry 31 against Vanderbilt the week before. UK needs a good running game to be successful, and that certainly didn’t happen in this one. Louisville outgained the Cats 258-40 on the ground and 440- 147 overall.
It wasn’t just the offense and defense that were bad on Saturday. The kicking game had issues, too. Let’s look at those as Louisville dominates the Governor’s Cup 41-0.
Not So Special Teams
The Cards’ first score was set up by a blocked Aiden Laros punt. On the first punt of the second half, U of L nearly got another block. The result was a 16-yarder that set the Cards up at the UK 37. In addition, when Kentucky did something good, in this case, a big return by Kendrick Law, it was called back by a penalty. The Cats have had troubles at various times this season with special teams. Today, it definitely cost them.
Looking At The Numbers
With the loss, Kentucky’s season ends at 5-7 and 2-6 in the SEC. They finished the year being outscored in their last two games 86-17. Furthermore, it’s the biggest win for Louisville in the series and the first shutout since 2004. Jeff Brohm’s club has won two in a row by a combined margin of 82-14. The Cards go to 8-4 and snap a three-game losing streak. They await their bowl destination. Last Word has them in the Pinstripe Bowl.
The tide has definitely shifted in the rivalry. As if that wasn’t enough, by virtue of the men’s basketball team winning earlier this month, it’s the first time since 2012-13 that Louisville won both. We must throw in the Kentucky women’s basketball team, which did beat the Cards, so there’s that.
Of course, much was made about Vince Marrow leaving Kentucky for Louisville. Obviously, on this day, he got the last laugh. So much so, he was tweeting at some of the Kentucky media towards the end of the game.
Final Thoughts
The goodwill the BBN had during the three-game winning streak is ancient history. On a day when UK had everything to play for, they failed miserably. The Cats miss a bowl for a second straight year. They are now 5-21 in their last 26 games against power conference opponents. One last note: it’s the first time Kentucky has ever lost its last two games by more than 28 points.
Now the off-season talk goes to Stoops and his future. After the game, he was asked if he had any thoughts of leaving. As you would expect, he said no. That puts the ball in athletic director Mitch Barnhart’s court. If Stoops is fired, he gets $38 million. All signs seem to point to Barnhart giving him a 14th year.
If that happens, a lot of the UK fanbase is likely to check out, especially if the coach everyone wants, Jon Sumrall, ends up at another SEC school. That’s going to be a tough one to get past.
That will be the big thing to follow for Kentucky in the weeks to come. On Saturday, it was a disappointing end to the year as Louisville dominated the Governor’s Cup 41-0.
Main Photo: Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
