I can’t recall the last time Kentucky football entered a game with such heavy pessimism. Actually, I can it felt just like the Joker Phillips era, when outcomes were predetermined, and fans merely braced themselves for the inevitable disappointment.
Back then, there was no spark of hope, no clinging to “any given Saturday” optimism. Big Blue Nation knew their Wildcats were marching into Sanford Stadium destined for a blowout, turning on ABC at 11:59 AM ET with a weary sigh and muttering, “Let’s get this over with.”
Georgia dominated from the start, cruising downfield for two quick touchdown drives that drained the entire first quarter and Kentucky’s will to compete. Early in the second, the Bulldogs briefly stumbled, surrendering a soft touchdown and tossing an uncharacteristic interception before regaining control.
From there, they coasted comfortably, treating the rest of the game like a casual scrimmage. With little urgency but complete command, Georgia eventually wrapped things up with a decisive 35-14 victory, never needing to shift out of cruise control.
Credit where it’s due: Cutter Boley delivered his best performance as a Wildcat against quality opposition, throwing for 225 yards and two touchdowns. The young quarterback displayed toughness, poise, and flashes of pro-level talent that signal a promising future.
Cameron Miller also looked like a potential breakout star at wide receiver even if it oddly took until the fourth quarter of Week 6 to discover it. On defense, several young standouts emerged as well, including CJ Works, Grant Godfrey, and Cam Dooley, offering hope for what’s ahead.
The current state of Kentucky football, under longtime SEC coach Mark Stoops, feels lifeless. Stoops has now dropped ten straight games to Kirby Smart who keeps praising him, perhaps to ensure a guaranteed win remains on the schedule.
With eight consecutive league losses and just one win in 13 games against power-conference opponents since late 2023, the program sits firmly at the SEC’s bottom. Fan apathy has taken hold as attention shifts to basketball season, with Big Blue Madness arriving as a welcome distraction from another dismal football Saturday ahead.
Stoops’ answer to the mounting criticism? “We’ll keep on working… You gotta block it out and go back to work.” He leaned on some variation of the word “work” six times in his latest postgame presser after another loss.
The message felt hollow just words drifting away as he clings to his title as Kentucky’s all-time wins leader, a milestone that offers little comfort given the team’s current decline. Despite being a top-15 paid coach in college football while steering a bottom-15 program, Stoops insists he’s not going anywhere.
When questioned about reports that he approached the administration last season about a possible buyout, Stoops flatly denied it. He added that he has no interest in rehashing that “song and dance” after every loss this season.
And there are likely plenty more losses ahead.
“I’d hate to give anything like that legs,” Stoops said. “There’s zero I told you last year. You guys can write or say anything you want about me, but there’s zero chance I’m walking away. There’s no quit in me, so that’s 100% false. Anyone saying otherwise is lying. I don’t want to address that crap anymore.”
Kentucky finds itself stuck between a rock and a hard place. Firing Stoops isn’t financially realistic, but keeping him feels just as costly given the program’s downward trend and lack of evidence that a turnaround is coming anytime soon.
Last season was framed as merely a “one-year blip,” with Stoops nearly in tears pledging to fix things in 2025. “You could take this or leave it, but I’ve never been as motivated as I am right now,” he said in March. “If you know anything about me, I do not like an ass kicking. We didn’t play to our best last year and I can guarantee you since that season was over… our butts were in that office on Sunday and have not stopped since.”
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