Another Bad Night For The Cats
It was a battle of two teams desperately needing a win on Saturday night. For Kentucky, they were trying to put a two-game losing streak behind them. On the other side of the field, Auburn was hoping to ease the pain of a fourth-quarter meltdown at Missouri. The Cats were trying for their first conference home win of the year. In addition, they were looking to knock off Auburn in Lexington for the first time in nearly 60 years. Unfortunately for the Big Blue Nation after a strong start, they were literally run over. Let’s break it down as the Elusive Home Win Eludes Kentucky 24-10.
Off To A Good Start
The Cats took the opening kickoff and moved the ball down into Auburn territory. However, the drive stalled at the Tigers 28. Alex Raynor connected on a 46-yard field goal and UK was up early. Following a three-and-out Kentucky got the ball right back going 63 yards in seven plays.
Taking a page from the Philadelphia Eagles Jamarion Wilcox, with a push from Brock Vandagriff, took it in from two, and just like that it was 10-0. So far in one quarter the Wildcats successfully made a field goal and scored a TD. Unfortunately for the BBN, it wouldn’t last.
Flipping The Script
After the end of the first quarter, Auburn coach Hugh Freeze told the SEC Network they needed to run the ball. That’s what they did taking control of the game. UK got nothing out of a JQ Hardaway interception of Payton Thorne. After a short punt, the Tigers literally ran the ball down the field. Finally, Thorne hit Keandre Lambert-Smith for six yards and it was 10-7.
On Kentucky’s next possession, Vandagriff telegraphed a pass leading to an easy interception. Auburn got the ball down to the Kentucky nine-yard line before the defense held. A 27-yard field goal by Alex McPherson tied it up.
Just before the half UK got a big break. Rather than playing for a field goal Freeze elected to throw. The one thing that couldn’t happen did happen and it was that J.J. Weaver sacked Thorne. With no timeouts remaining, they couldn’t get a field goal attempt before the half.
How much did Auburn dominate the second stanza? In the first Kentucky outgained them 115 to 8. The second it was all Tigers 158 to 30 with 83 of those coming on the ground.
More of The Same
After taking the second-half kick Auburn threw the ball on every down. Just kidding they ran the ball, and then ran some more. With Jarquez Hunter doing most of the work taking it to the final yard and it was 17-10 Tigers.
Kentucky made the surprising call to start Gavin Wimsatt in the second half. It didn’t help as the Cats went three and out. UK had momentum after a missed field goal but couldn’t get anything from it. Following another punt Auburn went 80 yards in nine plays. Hunter went 45 yards untouched making it 24 unanswered for the Tigers.
Finally UK got a drive going getting all the way down to the three-yard line. However Kentucky got one yard, then no gain on second and third down. On fourth down Wimsatt was picked off and that was all she wrote as the Elusive Home Win Eludes Kentucky 24-10.
Looking Ahead
With the win, Auburn moves to 3-5 on the season and gets their first conference win. They’ll host a Vanderbilt squad that nearly knocked off Texas. As for the Wildcats, they’ll head three hours down Interstate 75 for a battle with Tennessee. The Vols had the week off after beating Alabama.
Final Thoughts
Following the upset win over Ole Miss, the 2024 Kentucky season was looking promising. Since then the bottom fell out. With tonight’s loss, the Cats go 0-4 at home in league play for the second time under Mark Stoops. The other was his first year back in 2013. Although, the Cats were favored in three of the four losses this year. This pretty much puts a nail in the coffin of a ninth straight bowl game.
During our game preview, we talked at length about Kentucky’s offensive issues. They remain the only SEC school to not score more than 20 points in a conference game. In addition, it was the third straight game where they had the ball on the two-yard line and got zero points. Missing both Chip Trayanum and Demie Sumo-Karngbaye who were out with injury UK couldn’t get the run game going gaining only 70 yards.
The defense has been good in 2024. However, they’ve been torched the last two weeks. Last Saturday Florida started a freshman quarterback and running back and scored 48 and gained 476 yards. This time they let Auburn gain 498 yards including 328 on the ground. For Hunter, he set a Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field record for most yards by an opposing player with 278. In fact, after the first period, the Tigers outgained the Wildcats 460-109.
Add it all up and it’s another painful night for Cat fans as the Elusive Home Win Eludes Kentucky 24-10. They’ve now lost six straight conference home games and are 2-11 in the last 13.
