UK Leaves A&M Proud of Effort, Eager to Improve
Kentucky’s defense did everything anyone could have expected of it. Then the Wildcats did more.
In spite of being on the field for 75 plays and nearly 35 minutes, the defense kept the Cats in it at Texas A&M. Then, Derrick Baity forced a fumble and Darius West picked it up for a game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
“I could not be more proud of the defense to play and hang in there as long as they did and to get the strip when we were in bad field position,” Mark Stoops said. “They were playing really good and we couldn’t get much going offensively and they were playing really good. To get the strip and to get the touchdown was a huge play. Gave us an opportunity to win it in overtime. Just didn’t make enough plays. Bottom line.”
The first and only overtime period brought a sack on third-and-two and an ensuing missed field goal, while A&M ran four straight times for a touchdown. With the 20-14 defeat, UK falls to 5-1 on the season.
“Bottom line: Give them credit,” Stoops said. “They have a very good football team. Very talented football team. They played and they beat us. Very proud of our guys’ effort and we just gotta get back to work and execute and do some things better. We’ll do that.”
The lion’s share of the improvements will need to happen on the offensive side, where UK managed just 178 total yards – 112 coming in the first quarter. After Lynn Bowden Jr. took a jet sweep 54 yards to give the Cats a 7-0 lead, the Cats managed just three first downs.
Record-setting running back Benny Snell Jr. was held to 60 yards on 13 carries, while quarterback Terry Wilson was sacked six times and completed 13-of-20 passes for 108 yards.
“He was not comfortable all night,” Stoops said. “And that’s on everybody, not just on him. We have to a better job as a coaching staff to put him in a position to get him some comfort. Our players have to give him some protection and we have to do some things better.”
A huge contingent of Kentucky fans among the 99,829 at Kyle Field on Saturday night did everything in its power to will its team to victory – beginning with a memorable scene at the Cat Walk – but it wasn’t quite enough.
“It was incredible,” Stoops said. “I wish we could have finished it off and got that victory. But again, I am proud of our team. That’s a very, very difficult place to play right here and to have an opportunity to take it to overtime and win, you have to give our guys credit for that. I appreciate them.”
Since UK now heads into a bye week, Stoops will be giving his team a brief breather from the grind of a long regular season that has reached its midpoint. Tuesday, the Cats will reconvene, knowing they will next get to take the field in front of an even bigger group of their fans when they host Vanderbilt on Oct. 20.
It’s an opportunity they’re already looking forward to.
“We have good leadership on this team and we’re going to hit the reset button here,” Stoops said. “We’ll look at all things we did very good, successfully, to get it to 5-1 and we’ll look at the things where we need to improve and work on those things.”
