Did Mark Stoops’ in-game decision-making do in Kentucky football?

Exactly one week after Kentucky turned in, arguably, the most dispiriting outing of the Mark Stoops coaching era in a 31-6 loss to South Carolina, the Wildcats found themselves in an unthinkable position:

With 3:09 left in the game against No. 1 Georgia on Saturday night, Kentucky had the ball at the Bulldogs’ 47-yard line — and was down by ONE POINT.

The problem was, UK faced a fourth-and-8.

As the Big Blue segment of a Kroger Field crowd of 61,663 that featured an ample amount of Georgia red implored the UK brain trust to roll the dice in pursuit of what would have been the greatest upset in modern Kentucky football history, Cats coach Mark Stoops instead sent out his punting unit.

You know how that played out.

Even though Wilson Berry’s punt pinned Georgia on its own 15-yard line with 2:58 left, the Bulldogs — led by a pair of Carson Beck completions for first downs on second-and-long plays — drove to the Kentucky 40 and and ran off all but the game’s final nine seconds.

So Georgia (3-0, 1-0 SEC) escaped Lexington with a 13-12 win over Kentucky (1-2, 0-2 SEC) that was the Bulldogs’ 28th straight regular-season Southeastern Conference victory and their 15th win in a row over UK.

“Really proud of our players,” Stoops said afterward. “The way they fought and competed. I thought our coaches did a really good job this week because, you can imagine, (it was) a very challenging week coming off of the way we performed seven days ago in this stadium.”

With Georgia entering the game as a three-touchdown favorite, no one expected Kentucky coaching decisions to matter much to the outcome.

Instead, Stoops’ strategy late in both halves Saturday night came into question.

Had it been my decision on Kentucky’s late fourth-and-7 in Georgia territory, I would have gone for it.

With a program-altering upset within reach, it felt like a moment that called for boldness. Also, Georgia has Beck, the best quarterback in college football.

With Beck, Georgia was not reliant on its rushing attack to run out the clock. The Dawgs could pass their way out of trouble — and did.

That said, Stoops’ rationale for why he punted was defensible.

To that point in the game, Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff had completed 10 passes, but only five of them had gone for more than 8 yards.

On the two preceding plays, the Georgia pass rush had knocked down Vandagriff throws at the line of scrimmage.

Kentucky had all its timeouts remaining, plus the two-minute stoppage.

Most importantly, the UK defense is the Wildcats’ best unit.

“I do not regret punting that ball,” Stoops said. “I felt like if we went for it there and don’t make it. (Then) our offense, if we stop them, has to go the length of the field. That was going to be tough against (Georgia’s) defense. And (in) a predictable pass situation. That’s not our strength. To play to our strength, plenty of time to pin them and get the ball back” with a shorter field.

At the end of the first half, Kentucky decision-making was also second guessed.

In what was a 3-3 tie, UK reached the Bulldogs’ 14-yard line on an 8-yard run by Demi Sumo-Karngbaye, then used its final timeout of half one with nine seconds left.

An aggressive play would have been for Kentucky to try at least one throw into the end zone before settling for a field goal try.

After the UK timeout, the Wildcats sent their offense back on the field. The Cats lined up but before they could snap the ball, Georgia coach Kirby Smart came onto the field to call timeout.

Following this timeout, Stoops sent in his field goal unit.

Alex Raynor — on his way to a 4-of-4 night that included a school-record 55-yard field goal and a 51-yarder, too — hit from 32 yards.

Explaining his thinking, Stoops said, “We would take complete momentum away from us if (the Kentucky offense) gets a strip sack or fumble or (we) don’t go in at (halftime with) the lead.”

In my view, UK played the end of the first half correctly.

Vandagriff might be a fourth-year college player, but the Georgia transfer has scant game experience. The contest against Vandagriff’s former team was only the quarterback’s third college start.

Against a defense as dynamic as is Georgia’s, a pass try with no timeouts for an inexperienced QB would have been asking for trouble.

The most egregious in-game decision Stoops has made in 2024 did not come Saturday night against Georgia.

It came last week against South Carolina when Stoops had Kentucky go for it on fourth-and-1 from UK’s 31-yard line with 11:15 left in the first half with the Gamecocks up 7-0.

Kentucky’s quarterback sneak got stuffed and South Carolina essentially got a free three points after the UK defense held the Gamecocks to a field goal.

Subsequently, even Stoops acknowledged that was a lamentable call.

For all the gnashing of teeth among some UK backers over Stoops’ supposed in-game conservatism, many of the decisions that have blown up most spectacularly on the Kentucky coach have arisen from overaggressiveness.

As frustrating as it is coming so close to Georgia without taming the Dawgs, Stoops’ explanations for his strategy at the end of both halves Saturday night were defensible.

Was Mark Stoops too conservative vs. Georgia? Here’s his explanation for late punt.

Kentucky’s performance vs. Georgia offers hope for rest of season, but questions linger

Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s agonizing 13-12 loss to No. 1 Georgia

‘One heck of a football game.’ Everything Mark Stoops said after UK’s loss to Georgia.

Kentucky football falls just short in upset bid vs. No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs