Three takeaways from a dreadful end to a dreadful Kentucky football season

Three takeaways from Kentucky’s 41-14 loss to Louisville in college football’s Governor’s Cup game at Kroger Field on Saturday.

1. A dreadful end to a dreadful season

Perhaps it was fitting that Kentucky’s 2024 football season would end with a thud. The Cats after all finished 4-8 overall and 1-7 in the SEC, their worst win-loss records since coach Mark Stoops’ first season back in 2013. Saturday, they lost the annual Governor’s Cup rivalry game for the first time in six seasons.

They did so in nearly non-competitive fashion. Kentucky fumbled the ball away on the third play of its initial possession. True freshman quarterback Cutter Boley, making his first collegiate start, threw two interceptions in the first half and was knocked out of the game in the second. The Cats turned the ball over five times on the sunny but cold afternoon. Louisville committed one turnover.

Meanwhile, Louisville rushed for 358 yards. Cardinals’ second-string running back Duke Watson scored on runs of 58 and 24 yards. First-stringer Isaac Brown scored on a 67-yard sprint. The ‘Ville’s Ramon Puryear returned Jamarion Wilcox’s second fumble 20 yards for another U of L touchdown.

Louisville’s 20-0 halftime lead was its largest since 2017 when it led 31-10 on the way to a 44-17 victory in Lexington. The Cardinals’ quarterback that afternoon was a youngster by the name of Lamar Jackson.

2. Cutter Boley’s first start was one to forget

As previously mentioned, Cutter Boley’s first college start did not go as planned. So impressive the last two weeks in second-half stints, especially in last week’s 31-14 loss at No. 3-ranked Texas, Boley looked more like an overwhelmed rookie than a surefire star.

Up against veteran Louisville defensive coordinator Ron English, Boley completed just 1 of 5 passes for 9 yards in the first quarter. It got worse from there. In the second quarter, English baited Boley into throwing a pair of interceptions. The second happened in the end zone, killing UK’s only productive drive of the first half.

In the second half, Boley left the game with an injury after a hit that was ruled a targeting foul by a Louisville player, who was ejected.

Boley will be fine. He has all the tools you want in a quarterback. He needs better support around him, as all quarterbacks do. And he’ll have a full offseason of study to take what he has learned these last three games and prepare for 2025.

3. Mark Stoop has plenty to fix

Facing a difficult schedule in an expanded SEC, you knew that Mark Stoops had a challenging task going into his 12th season as the Kentucky head coach. Few believed he would fall so short of meeting that challenge, however.

Kentucky lost its third straight game to South Carolina, this one a 31-6 loss at home. It lost its second straight home game to Vanderbilt. It lost at home to an Auburn team that was struggling to become bowl eligible. It was blown out by a so-so Florida team in Gainesville. And on the final day of the season, it was blown out by its archrival on its home field.

Stoops said this week he is confident he can get the roster fixed. That task will not only be difficult, but different. As we all know, college football operates under a unique landscape right now. You must factor in the transfer portal and NIL. Recruiting has changed. You might be able to bring in better players, but you might lose some of your better players, as well.

Can Stoops navigate that change? To get his program back on track, he’ll have to do just that. And more.

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