Kentucky did its job in victory in Ohio despite strange operation

If you weren't able to watch the Kentucky-Ohio game on Saturday, things look pretty good from afar. The Cats checked off a lot of spots on the scoresheet and provided some entertaining highlights.

35-point win? Done.
A Pick Six for Max Hairston? Check.
Career day for Dane Key? Let's go.
Almost 450 meters of attack surface? Come on.
Only two sacks and seven incomplete passes for Brock Vandagriff? Damn hot!

There's a lot of good to be said for the Wildcats' 41-6 victory, and I don't want to come across as a bad-luck guy, but a few things in this game just didn't go well. It's hard to find a specific word to describe it, so we'll use some words from Mark Stoops.

Pedal or go?

College football fans wondered for days why Mark Stoops kicked the ball with three minutes left against the best team in the country, trailing by one point. Kentucky fans talked about it all week. They'll be talking about fourth-down decisions after this game, too.

There were two instances in the second quarter where Mark Stoops changed his mind towards the end of the game. Alex Raynor was preparing for a school-record 56-yard field goal run. They called a timeout and tried it instead. It worked like a charm. Dane Key caught a 36-yard pass on the fourth and seventh attempt, setting up the next touchdown.

A few minutes later, Kentucky was in a similar situation again. They could kick a field goal on third down or try to make a throw into the end zone with no timeouts. After it looked like they were going to kick, Stoops made a U-turn and decided to go for it. Vandagriff was sacked and the Cats walked away with zero points.

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A failed fourth attempt resulted in points

The defense smothered Ohio. On the Bobcats' best drive of the day, Kentucky finally managed a fumble that cost them a turnover. They were on their way to a shutout when Max Hairston tricked the backup quarterback into a pick six.

On the ensuing possession, Kentucky's defense forced a three-and-out, giving the offense the ball 55 yards from the end zone. The Cats needed just one yard to convert on fourth down.

Kentucky quickly moved to the line to lure Ohio offside. When that didn't work, they stuck with the original decision, a read option. Stoops said Brock Vandagriff made the right decision to keep the ball and run to the outside, but he dropped the football, giving Ohio enough time to tackle him behind the line of scrimmage.

Thanks to its excellent field position, Ohio quickly took over the entire field and scored its only touchdown of the day.

Indecision led to a cumbersome operation

Stoops said after the game that in his ideal scenario, the Cats wouldn't rush to the line on fourth down to draw Ohio offsides. He would rather make a big leap and drive it down the Bobcats' throats for a first down.

It's similar to the other critical fourth down situations. He's still trying to get on the same wavelength as his playmaker. “There are a lot of firsts,” Stoops said.

“That's on me because there's no discussion. I've been here for 12 years. I know what nonsense happens sometimes, you know what I mean? I should have known better and kicked the damn ball (before halftime).”

“I know. I've been here. (In) other places you could drop back on third-and-12, but the way we're defending now, we should have gotten the three.”

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Finally a Kentucky fumble recovery

The back-and-forth wasn't the only strange thing about this game. Kentucky forced six fumbles in two SEC games and failed to recover a single one. That's odd. It felt like the football gods were plotting against Kentucky's defense when the Cats forced a fumble in the red zone, recovered it, and then had the play overturned on a replay.

What on earth is going on here?

The defense remained calm and a few plays later the ball was back on the ground. JJ Weaver He recovered it cleanly and had an opportunity to shoot the ball from 80 yards and score. If only it were that easy. Things got weird when he tripped and dropped the ball. Thankfully he fell on it, but man. You wondered for a while what kind of voodoo was at play.

Kentucky pass protection is not good

Can Kentucky get its operational issues under control? Yes. Can Brock Vandagriff continue to make progress as a passer? He still has plenty of time to grow. There's one question we know the answer to.

The offensive line's pass defense is not good and probably won't get any better.

Kentucky called a deep drive with maximum protection. There were only two players running routes and Vandagriff found Key for a big 40-yard gain. Heck, it was even a free play after Ohio jumped offsides. The play was called back because the Cats received a penalty for holding.

Pass protection will be this team's biggest problem going forward. Some games will be better than others, but this is a clear deficiency that they will have to work around for the rest of the season.

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The good things Kentucky has done

Despite the tone of this recap so far, you shouldn't feel too bad about how things turned out. There was a lot of good going on in today's game.

Dane Key set a career high with 145 receiving yards. Alex Raynor made a school record 12 consecutive field goals. The defense is dominant, perhaps even better than expected. Despite playing under pressure, Vandagriff led an offense that gained 7.2 yards per play. They were more explosive than they had been all season, with seven runs of 10 yards and 11 passes of 15 yards.

The young wild ones also shone with more playing time. Steven Soles had a QB hurry and a nice tackle on a screen pass. Terhyon Nichols made an excellent PBU on the third attempt. Jamarion Wilcox continued to show his potential as a big play back with a team-record 82 yards on eight carries.

Kentucky even brought in a new punter. Aidan LarrosThe only kick went 58 yards and if the coverage had found the ball, it might have come down inside the 10-yard line.

It wasn't a squeaky clean performance that would excite any Monday morning quarterback, but Kentucky got a big win when they really needed it before facing a top-ten Ole Miss team on the road.