“Shocking stat of the day: Since the 2021 dismantling of LSU, Kentucky has lost 8 of its last 10 SEC home games,” ESPN/SEC Network personality Tom Hart posted on X.
Kentucky football stats guru Corey Price noted that the 2-8 mark was the worst record in a stretch of 10 SEC home games since Nov. 3, 2012, to Sept. 19, 2015.
Connie Allen of Harrodsburg is a true die-hard Kentucky football fan who seldom misses a game and normally is in the tailgate lot early with her husband.
“I can’t fathom what is so broken. I like Stoops, and I know it was really the OC (offensive coordinator), but, just like a commander in the military, the ultimate responsibility is the coach/commander. UK football died today,” Allen, a former military member, messaged me after the blowout loss.
Tyler Wright, sent me this message: “Not a Kentucky fan but after everything that went on in the offseason, coupled with the results of the last two years, this seems like the type of loss that can lose you the fanbase for good.”
Based on social media, fans are more than just a little upset.
“I did watch UK-South Carolina football game today via ABC-TV. It pains me to watch how this program continues to move in such a ‘ho-hum’ pace. If it weren’t for 6-6 & 7-5 teams qualifying for mediocre bowls, there’d be little to celebrate. I have no further comment beyond that,” Oscar Combs, former Cats’ Pause publisher and long-time UK sports analyst, posted on social media after the game.
FoxSports Radio host Aaron Torres didn’t hold back on his assessment of UK football: “Maybe Mark Stoops should spend less time complaining about NIL and more time getting his team ready to play. Least prepared team I’ve seen anywhere in college football this season.”
Former Kentucky coach Rich Brooks, who did beat Georgia twice, called it an “all systems failure” by the Cats.
CatsIllustrated publisher Justin Rowland of Rivals.com noted it was a “bad day” for Kentucky football and posted on social media that it is “hard to see how you have much hope for the offense” after the play against South Carolina.
Stoops didn’t have a lot of answers after his third straight loss to South Carolina.
“We’ve been beaten, you know, pretty badly by some really good football teams. But I felt like our team always fought back,” Stoops said. “We talk about it all the time. You get punched, you get hit, you swing back. Very disappointed. Not happy with us. Our coaching, our response, the way we played.
Today it didn’t look like we were a really well coached team and a team that didn’t really want to respond. That’s 100 percent on me and on us. No excuses. They beat us in every facet and we didn’t respond. We didn’t play very good and we didn’t coach very good. We have a lot of work to do. It’s up to our team, how we respond and how we bounce back.”
