Kentucky had every opportunity to win their first SEC game of the year last night, but just couldn’t finish. I’ve said all season long that Kentucky needs to get off to a faster start. Last night the start was the same Mississippi State scored on their first drive of the game after stopping the Kentucky offense.
***************************************Positives*****************************************************
Raymond Sanders
Senior running back Raymond Sanders had one of his best games of the season against the Bulldogs, rushing for 86 yards on 15 carries. Sanders caught 2 passes for 6 yards.
Jojo Kemp
Freshman running back Jojo Kemp continues to improve. Kemp ran for 63 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries. The touchdown by Kemp was all effort on his part by stretching for the end zone and barely hitting the pile on.
Ryan Timmons
Timmons finished the game with catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Timmons had a 51 yard touchdown catch.
Bud Dupree
I think Dupree had his best game of the season last night. He finished with a team high 13 tackles and a sack. This is how Bud needs to play every week for Kentucky to be a good defensive team.
***************************************Negatives***********************************************
Offense
This Kentucky offense continues to struggle on third downs, converting only 4-18. The Wildcats were 4-5 on fourth downs.
Quarterbacks
Maxwell Smith continues to struggle at quarterback. Smith had trouble throwing the ball all night. I know the receivers dropped a lot of passes last night, but most of the throws Max made were either too high or too low. The only passes he was able to complete were the short screen passes. Smith finished the game 18-34 for 160 yards and a touchdown.
If Kentucky is going to be successful offensively Whitlow is going to have to be the quarterback. I know he was hurt last night, but the short time he was in there Kentucky looked like an entirely different team. If Whitlow can’t go, I think you have to pull the red shirt off Towles or Phillips. We all know Drew Barker is the quarterback of the future, so why not try Towles or Phillips. I like Max Smith, he is a great young man, I just don’t think he is capable of leading this Kentucky team.
If Whitlow is healthy Kentucky wins this game.
Defense
Kentucky’s defense seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time during most of the game. Mississippi State converted 10-18 third downs last night. The defense also gave up 447 yards of total offense last night.
If you listened to Mark Stoops post game, it sounded like he was blaming defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot for the way the defense played. I know Eliot is a first year coordinator, but you need to at least have the guys lined up right and in the right position.
Kentucky returns to action Sat. Nov. 2 as the Wildcats play host to Alabama State at 7:30 p.m.
