By Mark Pszonak
During a Saturday full of surprises, a few games slipped under-the-radar. Kentucky’s 31-6 loss at home to South Carolina was one of those. And for everyone in Lexington, while they wish it stayed forgotten, the reality is that it happened and now Georgia is coming to town in a few days.
Coming off a 31-0 home victory over Southern Miss, you wouldn’t have been able to find one Kentucky fan that could’ve fathomed a 25-point loss to a South Carolina team that fought tooth-and-nail to defeat Old Dominion during their home opener.
But as the old saying goes, that’s why they play the games. But why did Kentucky get embarrassed at home? Head coach Mark Stoops is first in line to take the blame. And the worse part is that this is becoming a trend. The loss to South Carolina, their third straight against the Gamecocks, makes the Wildcats 2-7 in their last nine SEC home games.
Once again, Coach Stoops didn’t have his team ready to play. A week after South Carolina’s offense struggled mightily against Old Dominion, they were consistent and methodical against the Wildcats. Redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers completed 10 of 14 passes for 166 yards, two touchdowns a week after completing 10 of 23 passes for 114 yards and no touchdowns against the Monarchs.
Offensively, the Wildcats may have been even worse, accumulating only 183 total yards, including 44 through the air. Quarterback Brock Vandagriff, who was praised throughout the off-season, looked lost in his first SEC start and backup Gavin Wimsatt was no better.
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So, where does this leave Kentucky? It may be a worst-case scenario with Georgia coming to town on Saturday. Just as no Wildcat fan thought that they’d lose by 25 to South Carolina, you would be hard-pressed to find one who thinks Kentucky has any chance of upsetting the Bulldogs. Might the Wildcats rally and stay close for a quarter or half? It’s possible, but there is no chance they win the game.
More importantly is what comes after Georgia. There are remaining SEC road games against Ole Miss, Tennessee and Texas, while the home games seem somewhat more manageable with Vanderbilt and Auburn. However, remember when South Carolina was supposed to be manageable?
Life comes at you fast and it has a chance to come very fast this season at Coach Stoops, who is in his 12th season at Kentucky. A few months after he was linked with the Texas A&M job it is not out of the realm of possibility that his seat will begin to get rather warm if the Wildcats implode this season. The season has taken quite a turn in Lexington and now its Coach Stoops’ job to straighten things out as soon as possible.
