2022 [W5] Cats Tripped by Tigers

[Ezaco]

LEXINGTON, KY - The Wildcats went into the fourth week of the season ranked #2, hungry, and ready to dominate. They left Columbia dizzy, confused, and empty.

 

"We simply didn't execute," Coach Payne for the Wildcats said. "Kelvin couldn't get into the holes he needed and have the big games like he's been having." Kelvin Dupree, the standout, Heisman-hopeful running back for Kentucky, was held to only 80 yards and 1 touchdown on the ground, and a mere 14 yards receiving against the 7th-ranked Missouri Tigers.

 

When asked about the quarterback play, "I've talked to Michael, you know we had a good talk. He made some mistakes, and those mistakes really hurt us. But this isn't a game on Michael. You win as a team, you lose at a team. So we're going to go back over the game plan as a team, and we're going to get better." Michael Oliveros threw 36 times for 219 yards and 1 touchdown, but also gave up 2 costly interceptions. UK's top receiver, Matt Smith, dropped the ball 7 times on 13 targets, but with those 6 catches did manage over 100 yards and a touchdown. This on a week where Kentucky had planned to keep the ball on the ground and rely on the legs of Dupree and Oliveros to get them through.

 

For the Tigers it was a good day, with quarterback Aaron Leamon throwing the ball 39 times for almost 400 yards and 3 touchdowns, with two receivers getting over 100 yards. Kentucky's defense stayed on top of them, forcing one fumble and two sacks, and forcing 9 punts, but the offense simply wasn't there to compliment it and in the end was Kentucky's inability to execute that cost them. Missouri will now turn to Florida, rising up the rankings, and potentially putting a lock on the SEC East and the SEC as a whole, with playoff implications on the horizon.

 

Kentucky, in turn, will turn its attention to one of its rivals south of the border with Vanderbilt coming to Lexington this weekend. Vanderbilt is coming off a humiliating 63-0 loss to Alabama and seemingly no answers or ideas anywhere. This should be a layup game for Kentucky before looking at stiffer competition in South Carolina, but having already been tripped once, could the Commodores catch the Cats by their toe?