How unbeaten Ole Miss escaped with win vs. No. 7 Kentucky thanks to Wildcats miscues

Total times read this article : 6

No. 7 Kentucky and Mark Stoops were agonizingly close to a statement win on the road vs. No. 14 Ole Miss on Saturday.

But a combination of special teams miscues, poor clock management and a controversial non-call on a potential targeting resulted in a Rebels victory. And so, Lane Kiffin and Co. escaped Vaught-Hemingway Stadium with a 22-19 victory over the Wildcats to advance to 5-0 on the season.

Stoops, per Kyle Tucker of The Athletic, said after the game that his team played “extremely hard, extremely tough, extremely resilient,โ€ but just โ€œnot very clean.โ€ The defense did its part, forcing Ole Miss into a turnover on downs and punt on the Rebels’ final two drives following a go-ahead field goal with 2:19 left in the third quarter.

But Kentucky’s final three drives ended in similar fashion: a turnover on downs and two fumbles. And each of those drives can be pinpointed to one disastrous play after another โ€” not including a special teams miscue.

MORE: Alabama’s Young injured against Arkansas

The first play that kept Kentucky from scoring a go-ahead touchdown occurred directly after Ole Miss’ score. Barion Brown fielded the kick and appeared ready to take it all the way back for a touchdown. Unfortunately, his teammate La’Vell Wright appeared to inadvertently trip him up from behind, costing Kentucky the score:

Three plays later, Kentucky โ€” still with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter โ€” tried to convert a fourth-and-3 from the Ole Miss 32 instead of attempt a 49-yard, game-tying field goal. Quarterback Will Levis’ attempt to Chris Rodriguez Jr. fell incomplete, giving Ole Miss at its own 27. Kentucky had missed a 39-yard field goal earlier and had an extra point blocked.

The Rebels drove all the way down to the Kentucky 4-yard line and, like their opponent, attempted a fourth-down conversion as opposed to a field goal (which would have only made the score 25-19). The Kentucky defense held strong, facing first-and-goal from the 4-yard line but keeping the Rebels from scoring after a Jaxon Dart incompletion in the end zone.

The Wildcats took over at their 4-yard line, converting twice on third down to move deep into Ole Miss territory. Levis fumbled the ball on third-and-2 from the Ole Miss 33, however, giving the Rebels the ball back. But officials missed what could have been a targeting call:

MORE: First-year coaches impressing through season’s first month

And so, Kentucky not only got the chance for a game-tying field goal, but also missed out on scoring completely. Again, the defense stood up, forcing a three-and out and burning the team’s remaining two timeouts to give Kentucky one last chance to score with 1:49 left in the game.

Indeed, it looked as if Kentucky would score too quickly following a 50-yard catch-and-run by Brown:

But Levis moved too quickly, not allowing his receiver to get set. And so an 8-yard touchdown pass was wiped off the board, setting up first-and-goal from the Ole Miss 12. Following the game, Kentucky offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello said the offense should have slowed down and didn’t need to move as quickly as it did:

One play later, Levis was again strip-sacked. Ole Miss recovered, and the game was over.

With that, Kentucky’s attempt at going 5-0 fell short.

Facebook Comments Box

Hits: 0

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR