Picked by almost every major network to beat Florida, Kentucky struggled to find an answer on offense. Kentucky may have suffered one of the biggest losses of their season. Quarterback Patrick Towles only competed 8 of 24 passes and was sacked for -8 yards, giving the Gators a 14-9 win over the Wildcats this past Saturday.
Facing a 28 game losing streak against SEC rival Florida and a devastating triple overtime loss to them last year; Kentucky was looking to make sure Florida didn’t make it 29 straight losses.
The Wildcats didn’t look like the team that dominated the Gamecocks, starting with the play calling and lack of execution on offense. They didn’t stick to the game plan that got them to 2-0 on the season, instead they blew opportunities that could have won them the game.
“We had our opportunities,” Shannon Dawson said. “We didn’t take advantage of them.”
The Wildcats offense was almost nonexistent, at least that’s what the score board reflected.
Kentucky’s defense on the other hand played tough. They only allowed Florida 120 yards rushing. The Gators found it difficult to get in behind Kentucky defense. Florida’s defense was also far from ordinary. Speculation swarmed, maybe the Wildcats lost because Florida has ones of the best secondary teams in the SEC. Towles struggled to escape Florida talented lineman and was sacked 6 times. He also struggled to get the ball into his receiver’s hands.
He said he plans to “practice, practice and more practice.”
Many are concerned if practice is going to be enough for the struggling quarterback, considering Kentucky has not scored a touchdown in 6 quarters.
Coach Dawson was asked about whether or not he should have run the ball more, seeing that Boom Williams had 16 carries for 80 yards, averaging 5 yards a carry. “I think we ran it like 40 something times,” Dawson said. When asked about Williams in specific, Dawson had a shocking response. “He can’t sit there and play every snap,” Dawson said. “The guys not a Nintendo guy,” “He gets tired, he’s got a human body.”
Whether or not 16 carries for 80 is too much for the talented back and comparable to an animated game is still up for debate.
Kentucky will have to figure out something in order to put points on the board, Coaches seem to be sure if Towles is the answer.
Tune in for the game against Missouri this Saturday at 7:30 PM on the SEC Network.