Adversity has hit the Kentucky football team.
Already fragile after winning five of their first six games in less-than-impressive fashion, the Wildcats had a complete letdown at Mississippi State in the form of a 45-7 setback, the team’s worst loss of the year.
Healed and recovered following a bye week, the performance in Starkville was shocking, considering Kentucky had all of its roster intact and was one game away from attaining bowl eligibility for the second straight season.
The offense was bad, the defense was bad. It was just bad all the way around and Kentucky coach Mark Stoops wasn’t happy after watching the paltry performance.
“It was a great effort by them — not good enough by us,” Stoops said. “We have to get back to work.”
Even signal caller Stephen Johnson, who had been nearly flawless during the first six contests, threw a pair of costly interceptions, matching his season total, was taken aback by the lopsided loss.
Mark Stoops
“I did not see this coming at all,” he said. “We did not execute today, and we played poorly on all sides of the ball.”
Kentucky linebacker Josh Allen shook his head after taking a a final glance at the scoreboard. Part of a defensive unit that had made noted improvement during the first six weeks, ranking in the Top 10 nationally in run defense, the Wildcats took a major step back against the Bulldogs. Kentucky couldn’t stop Mississippi State quarterback Nick Fitzgerald nor the Bulldogs’ overall running game. Mississippi State amassed 441 total yards, including 282 yards rushing, numbers this Kentucky team isn’t used to.
“You could clearly tell after the game that we were hurt,” he said “We did not put out all of our effort, and we did not execute. Now we prepare for next week. This cannot be the game that causes us to lose the entire season. This is only one game.”
As both veterans players know, the Wildcats have no time to throw a pity party. Kentucky has five games remaining and will host struggling Tennessee Saturday at Kroger Field. Mississippi, Vanderbilt, Georgia and Louisville also await in the next five weeks, with three of those games at home.
“We have to come back to work on Monday,” he said. “We cannot take a step back and be like the old Kentucky, we have to be like the new Kentucky and continue fighting through games. There is no time to sulk.”
Johnson is right and the Wildcats can’t afford to let one loss define the season and take control of their own destiny. Kentucky still has a chance eclipse last year’s win total and finish in the upper echelon in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference. Tennessee, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt are beatable foes, while Georgia, the cream of the crop in the SEC East and Louisville will be tougher foes for the Wildcats to overcome.
Before looking ahead, Kentucky has to regroup and wipe out performance at Mississippi State from its memory bank immediately and not allow the loss to turn into a snowball affect.
“We just have to forget about it in a sense to learn from our mistakes,” Allen said. “When Monday comes, it is time for Tennessee — there is no more Mississippi State. We lost, but we have to move on to the next game.”
How the Wildcats react to adversity will define the rest of the season.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. He can be reached at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.
