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Florida’s No.10 hopes of winning the college football playoffs – or maybe even the SEC Championship game – were dashed in Bluegrass State on Saturday night in a 20-13 loss to Kentucky . The upheaval saw the Wildcats win their first home game against the Gators since 1986, ending a 16-game losing streak at Lexington.
Florida quarterback Emory Jones’ pass to Trent Whittemore on the fourth and the 8-yard line goal fell incomplete in the dying seconds, leaving the Gators without a touchdown since the start of the first quarter.
Kentucky only managed 211 total yards and 74 passing yards on the evening, but linebacker Trevin Wallace returned a blocked 76-yard field goal for a touchdown in the third quarter to give Kentucky a 13-10 lead. . Running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. added a 9-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter for what turned out to be the winning score.
Kentucky did what it took to win the game, but Florida didn’t help at all. The Gators committed 15 penalties for 115 yards, including eight false starts, in one of the sloppiest games of the Dan Mullen era.
The loss put Mullen in Florida’s record books – but not as he would like – as the first Gators coach to lose to Kentucky twice since Doug Dickey in 1977-78.
The win is also huge for the Wildcats, who advance to 5-0 and end a 15-game losing streak against the top 10 teams. The Wildcats had lost 22 of their last 23 games to the Top 10 teams early in the game.
What are the main takeaways from the Lexington Stunner?
1. Florida CFP hopes dashed
The 31-29 loss to top Alabama wasn’t excusable, but it was certainly understandable. If Florida led the table from there, it would have included a victory over No.2 Georgia and possibly an equally important victory in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. This would, of course, be more than enough to overcome the singular loss.
There is no way it can happen now. In fact, a New Year’s ball game seems like a pipe dream at this point.
The Gators are now two games behind Georgia and Kentucky, with the Wildcats holding a head-to-head tiebreaker in their back pocket. Even with Mullen’s team leading the table, the likelihood that this resume will be enough to make it to CFP is overstated.
2. It’s time to respect Kentucky
Look, the Wildcats are not pretty. In fact, sometimes they are ugly. It does not matter. They consistently win the battle on the line of scrimmage, play disciplined football and have acquired the DNA that coach Mark Stoops expects and demands.
Rodriguez personifies this identity. The star running back had 99 yards and one touchdown on 19 carries, which is almost half of Kentucky’s total offensive production for the game. It was no secret what Kentucky wanted to do offensively, and Rodriguez pulled it off anyway.
Defensively, the Wildcats held on when it mattered most. They held Florida 4 of 13 in the third downs and made five tackles for losses against an offensive line that had momentum on the night.
Will Kentucky win the SEC East? Probably not. Georgia is, after all, a juggernaut. Is this the second best team in the division? Absolutely, which should put them in the Top 25 APs this week.
3. It’s about coaching
Mullen has plenty of points on his Florida resume that should earn him national notoriety, but it was one of the worst games of his career at any stop. Eight false starts and 15 total penalties are downright embarrassing for a team that has the talent to play at an extremely high level.
It was almost as if Mullen hadn’t properly prepared his team for what was a loud, noisy Kroger Field. If he did, it didn’t show. At some point, a coach has to start making personnel changes if their team is not performing well as a unit.
On the other side was Stoops, one of the most underrated coaches in the country. He’s now 3-3 against Mullen, dating back to Mullen’s days at Mississippi State. He made Kentucky one of the most improved programs in college football, putting them de facto in the SEC East title game in November 2018.
A game like this should get Stoops into the national conversation for Coach of the Year.
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