For Kentucky football, the Vanderbilt loss shows early season issues haven’t been fixed

For Mark Stoops, the feeling after Kentucky’s 20-13 loss to Vanderbilt was déjà vu.

“I’m going to turn on the film tonight, and I’m going to see a lot of the same mistakes that we made in another loss earlier this year,” Stoops said. “And I tried to head it off as best I could — I obviously didn’t get it done — about our team in controlling our emotions and executing.”

The other loss Stoops referred to was the 31-6 loss to South Carolina in Week 2. In that home defeat, Kentucky was flagged for 11 penalties. Against Vanderbilt, it was 12.

Several of those penalties came in key moments.

Kentucky looked on the verge of climbing back into the game trailing 17-7 in the third quarter when an extended drive gave the Wildcats second-and-goal inside the 1-yard line. A false start penalty immediately stalled the momentum though, and after two failed attempts at the end zone the Wildcats were forced to settle for a field goal attempt that turned into a disaster when holder Wilson Berry could not handle the snap.

UK’s first drive stalled after wide receiver Dane Key was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Vanderbilt’s opening touchdown drive was aided by a roughing the passer penalty against linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson on an incomplete pass.

Freshman linebacker Steven Soles was flagged for two special teams penalties, including a block in the back that negated a Barion Brown punt return that would have given UK possession at midfield for one final chance at a game-tying score. UK’s offensive tackles were flagged for four holding penalties.

“You don’t win games by being all psyched up or just being irrational,” Stoops said. “It comes down to discipline, execution. I tried like hell to to beat that into our heads and to play winning football in all areas. And when you continuously hurt yourself with penalties, turnovers, missed assignments, not making plays, I’m obviously not getting through to them.”

Key’s otherwise strong night — eight catches for 83 yards — was ruined by the early penalty and a fumble at the Vanderbilt 25-yard line that ruined another scoring opportunity.

The fumble and third-quarter red zone debacle meant Kentucky was held to just 13 points by a Vanderbilt defense surrendering 32 points per game against FBS competition entering the night. Kentucky lost despite outgaining Vanderbilt by almost 40 yards.

“It’s super, super frustrating,” UK offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “Just from a play calling standpoint, it’s obviously something we got to address because I think there’s multiple games that you’ve seen with this offense that we’re the ones that are hurting ourselves.”

While Stoops repeatedly told reporters in his postgame news conference he tried to head off a potential letdown after the upset of a top-10 Ole Miss team was followed by a bye week, he said he did not anticipate the South Carolina mistakes returning.

“We’ve been playing some good football, and we go back to playing non-winning football today, and that’s very frustrating on all of us,” Stoops said.

While the penalties drew most of the blame for the performance, there Stoops and his staff received criticism for multiple decisions during the game on social media.

Clock management at the end of the first half was an issue again as three straight incomplete passes from UK gave Vanderbilt possession with 1:35 on the clock. The Commodores converted that possession into a touchdown then extended their lead to double digits with a field goal on the opening drive of the second half.

After a long conversation with officials in the third quarter, Stoops elected to call a timeout to challenge the ruling that Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia was down before he lost the ball on a second-and-5 carry with 8:45 left in the third quarter despite replays on the SEC Network broadcast appearing to show Pavia’s knee was down. Stoops said his coaches in the booth advised him to challenge after watching reviews.

The review confirmed the call on the field, costing Kentucky one of its three timeouts, changing the clock strategy in what ended up being a one-possession game in the final minutes.

On the play before the critical false start on the goal line in the third quarter, Vanderbilt was flagged for offsides on a 5-yard run from quarterback Gavin Wimsatt.

Instead of taking the penalty, which would have given Kentucky first-and-goal at the 3-yard line, Stoops elected to let the play stand, resulting in a second-and-goal inside the 1.

“I felt like we could get four inches, five inches, six inches, whatever that was,” Stoops said, noting that in hindsight Hamdan likely should have called a quarterback sneak rather than a play that ran from the shotgun formation that resulted in the false start.

Whether the decisions that drew fans’ ire were correct or not, the discipline issues ultimately reflect poorly on the staff, as Stoops acknowledged.

The defeat dropped Kentucky to 5-9 in games after a bye during Stoops’ tenure. The Wildcats have lost four straight after a bye.

Stoops and company might get more benefit of the doubt if not for six straight losses in SEC home games. Kentucky is now 2-10 in its last 12 SEC home games.

“I talked to them about (the home losses),” Stoops said. “Like, what is it? Man, is it like, no distractions? Do we have a lot of people coming in? Do you have ticket problems? … Whatever it is, like, put it away and dial in and commit to doing the things necessary to win in this game.

“And obviously I didn’t do a good enough job, but I tried addressing that and addressing all of it about really focusing and being disciplined.”

The good news for Kentucky is the South Carolina loss was followed by an encouraging performance in a one-point loss to then-No. 1 Georgia, a blowout of Ohio and a road upset of Ole Miss. Kentucky returns to the road next week where results have been better in recent years against a Florida team it has beaten in three straight meetings.

A loss to Vanderbilt essentially ends any hopes of riding the Ole Miss win to national relevance this season, but beating the Gators in Gainesville for the third time in four trips would at least leave the door open to improving on the seven regular-season wins of the last two years.

The bad news is Stoops and company clearly believe they had solved the issues of South Carolina only for them to return again. Why should their be confidence that the latest frustrating loss is the one that finally vanquishes them?

“This league is very difficult right now,” Stoops said. “I think it’s pretty tough on a lot of people, and if you don’t come and play well, you will lose. We all know that. We all feel that as coaches, and so I don’t know if it’s not being heard.

“… I still feel like this team will respond the right way. And I will continue to grind over this team and put them in a position to be successful.”

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