Will Stein’s offense looked far too familiar for Kentucky Football fans against Alabama

Will Stein’s offense looked far too familiar for Kentucky Football fans against Alabama

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Will Stein’s offense looked far too familiar for Kentucky Football fans against Alabama

Ask any Kentucky football fan, and winning today would have been huge. Will Stein led the C-A-T-S chant on top of a stool on SEC Nation. Things started pretty well, but then what could not happen was exactly what happened.

Kentucky would lead 17-13 at half. Fans were loud and engaged. Announcers were saying that it could be a day when Kentucky announces its presence on the national stage.

But then the 3rd quarter rolled around.

Alabama would take the lead with their first offensive touchdown with three minutes to go in the 3rd, and then Will Stein rolled the dice, and it came up snake eyes.

Deep in his own half, Stein opted for a fake punt that saw Henry Boyer get stopped easily. And then an Alabama onslaught sent Kentucky fans to the exits early.

Will Stein didn’t have to win this one, but a blowout should not have happened. The offense needed to look competent, but the offense looked worse than what Mark Stoops was putting out on the field last year.

Compared to Stoops last 5 games against ranked SEC teams, Stein got fewer yards than any of them.

  • No. 20 Ole Miss-359 yards
  • No. 12 Georgia-270 yards
  • No. 21 Texas- 395 yards
  • No. 17 Tennessee- 476 yards
  • No. 14 Vanderbilt- 315 yards

Kentucky would finish with just 57 yards and 0/6 on 3rd downs in the second half. Look at this drive chart starting in the 3rd quarter:

  • 5 plays, 13 yards, 3:08
  • 3 plays,-4 yards, 1:28
  • 4 plays, 9 yards, 2:11
  • 3 plays, 3 yards, 1:13
  • 8 plays, 18 yards, 2:03
  • 3 plays, 18 yards, 1:23

Compare it to the first half:

  • 6 plays, 31 yards, 3:57
  • 3 plays, 4 yards, 0:34
  • 14 plays, 83 yards, 6:33 (TD)
  • 5 plays, 9 yards, 3:05
  • 3 plays, 2 yards, 1:04
  • 9 plays, 33 yards, 0:55 (FG)

That’s ugly, folks. The first half was better, but outside of three drives, the Cats never gained more than 20 yards on any possession. And given the money that was spent on this roster, a 45-17 beatdown is hard to swallow, especially given Stein is an offensive guy.

The Cats would gain just 209 yards of offense at home.

Now this staff and these players must own it.

Will Stein was blustery when he said he believes Kentucky will win “because of me.” Now he has to prove it on the field.

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