Upset win at Ole Miss is a testament to Kentucky football’s bodysurfing head coach

The seeds for the Kentucky football team’s 20-17 upset of No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday were not planted overnight. Nor during the week of practice. Nor the game before that. Nor the week of practice before that.

Kentucky’s biggest win of this 2024 season — if not many seasons — was a direct result of the reaction to Kentucky’s most embarrassing loss of the 2024 season — if not many seasons.

“(That loss was) a direct reflection on me,” Mark Stoops said on Saturday. “And that hurt bad.”

You know the hurt he’s talking about. That 31-6 home embarrassment against South Carolina on Sept. 7. That wasn’t just Kentucky’s third straight loss to the Gamecocks, but a head-scratching, no-show performance that rocked not just the Cats themselves, but their coaches, as well.

There was some soul-searching after that. Long gazes into the mirror. Hours upon hours in the film room. As a coach, it’s one thing to know what you think you’re team is going to look like, and quite another to be blindsided by something completely different. They had some stuff to figure out.

And so they did. One week later, Kentucky came within a break — not even a break or two — of upsetting a then-No. 1 Georgia that had won 27 consecutive regular-season SEC games. Then last week, the Cats took care of business against a solid, well coached MAC team in Ohio University.

Vince Marrow said something interesting when he spoke to that last week as the Cats prepared for the Rebels.

“I thought Mark Stoops did a really good job after the South Carolina game of not just rallying the players, but also rallying the coaches,” UK’s associate head coach said. “So I’m really looking forward to the challenge of going down there.”

Marrow was right. For all the criticism the coaches rightfully received for laying the egg against South Carolina, and the heat Stoops took for playing it conservative against Georgia, the coaches deserve credit getting Lane Kiffin’s Rebels to play UK’s game on Saturday.

“We played it our way,” Stoops said.

Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan called a versatile and effective game. Kentucky controlled the first half with extended drives that kept Ole Miss’ explosive offense off the field. Gavin Wimsatt played out of the wildcat formation, Demie Sumo-Karnbgbaye and Jamarion Wilco gained the “dirty yards” that kept the ball moving forward. The offensive line gave quarterback Brock Vandagriff enough time to help wide receiver Dane Key to a second consecutive 100-yard receiving game.

Then there was Stoops’ decision to go for it on fourth-and-7 from UK’s own 20-yard line with the Cats trailing 17-13 with three minutes to play. Hamdan responded by not just going for it, but going long for it. Vandagriff and Barion Brown responded by connecting on a 63-yard pass that was the play of the game.

Defensive coordinator Brad White devised a game plan that harassed Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart just enough while corralling the Rebels’ run game. Kiffin’s offense produced some explosive plays. It always does. Nothing snowballed, however. The Rebs were never able to roll.

“I’m really proud of the defensive staff and the work they put in,” White said Saturday. “I’d really like to single out Chris Collins. To come into this game and be a little bit shorthanded out there and for the players to play as well as they did.”

Collins is UK’s cornerbacks coach, who Saturday was operating without his best cornerback. Playing the nation’s top-ranked offense is not the best time to have your All-SEC defensive star Maxwell Hairston, who was hospitalized by an infection. An 18-point underdog, Kentucky won anyway.

“Next man up,” UK corner JQ Hardaway said.

Stoops’ best teams have always showed a certain kind of toughness. They’re not going to razzle-dazzle you, or overwhelm you or always win the day on style points. But they do play a gritty, physical brand that more often than not gives them a chance to win.

Saturday, Kentucky took advantage of that chance. The plan was good. The players executed the plan. And after being humiliated after South Carolina and heartbroken after Georgia, the team was throwing its head coach into the air for some locker room bodysurfing.

“Stoops is in the air,” Key said when asked to describe the postgame celebration. “When Stoops is in the air, it’s a pretty good thing.”

Three takeaways from Kentucky football’s thrilling upset of No. 6 Ole Miss

Where does Kentucky’s upset of Ole Miss rank among the best wins in program history?

In upsetting No. 6 Ole Miss, Mark Stoops and Kentucky manage to spit in the face of history

SEC football final: Kentucky 20, No. 6-ranked Ole Miss 17