The Kentucky Wildcats didn’t have enough players to play the seventh-place Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night, and they were a 17.5-point underdog.
After losing three straight games, the Cats were looking for something positive to hang onto in the tumultuous environment inside Neyland Stadium.
With 16 players listed on Thursday’s injury report for the Wildcats and eight key players missing, just playing in front of more than 100,000 fans in Knoxville will be a Herculean effort. There wasn’t.
Despite the disadvantage and momentum, Kentucky took the lead on a 27-yard goal by Josh Katas.
Great Britain remained in control for most of the first half, conceding only one point to the Vols.
To the surprise of many, it was Kentucky that entered the locker room after halftime with a 10-7 lead.
“We’ve got to keep swinging. We’re only halfway through. I’m proud of our guys and we did some good things,” Mark Stoops said on his way off the field.
Kentucky overcame some adversity, but they didn’t have enough strength to win this game, largely due to Brock Vandagriff being out with an injury and replaced by the once again ineffective Gavin Wimat.
A collapse late in the third quarter decided the game, with the Cats losing 28-18.
In a season of so much, we’ve got another tough pill to swallow.
Here are four things to know about Kentucky football’s latest setbacks.
Kentucky plays better than top-tier competitors
It’s been a very volatile season for Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats.
At rock bottom, it was hard to imagine how they took Georgia to the barbed wire and beat Ole Miss on the road.
Tonight in Knoxville, the short-handed Cats reminded us of their abilities.
It’s frustrating to think about how this season could have gone, even though we know this team has what it takes to keep pace with the top programs in college football.
Kentucky will get another chance to play a top-10 team when they travel to Texas on Nov. 23.
injury
You really have to praise Kentucky’s effort tonight considering how many players were out. The Cats were already down eight key players at the start of the game, losing both Brock Vandagriff and Barion Brown to potentially serious injuries during the game.
It would have been interesting to see what UK could do with a full squad, but getting banged up is the name of the game in the second half of the season.
If Vandagriff is out, the offense will have to rebuild before facing Murray State.
Offense never stops
Despite competition from top-10 teams, the Wildcats’ offense still lacks continuity and struggles to establish an identity.
You can’t fault Brock Vandagriff’s will to win. I put my body on the line many times and moved the chain. He also had to leave the game with an injury in the second half.
Bush Hamdan rotated Gavin Wimsatt, but unfortunately he almost threw a pick-six late in the third quarter. Instead, the Vols scored on the next play. He recovered on the next drive and connected with Jamori Maclin for an incredible touchdown.
It didn’t help much that the Cats lost Barion Brown to injury shortly after the start of the game. He’s now on a long list of other greats.
The attack is back to square one.
A much-needed week’s vacation
No doubt the Cats could use the week off to regroup. UK will not play again until Nov. 16 against Murray State at Kroger Field.
The most obvious reason Kentuckians can take a week off is to get healthy.
On Thursday, the Cats had 16 players listed in some capacity on the injury report.
That was before Barion Brown went down early in the first quarter in Knoxville. So, needless to say, rest and treatment will be the name of the game before the game against Murray State in two weeks.
There are still plenty of games this season, with two major games remaining on the schedule, against the No. 6 Texas Longhorns and rival Louisville Cardinals. If the Cats get healthy, they might be able to win the finale. Even though Louisville just won at No. 11 Clemson, they clearly have the talent to do it.
Now let’s talk about what happened.
