Kentucky Wildcats literally drop game to Auburn Tigers
The Kentucky Wildcats lost the game to the Auburn Tigers 30-27 according to the scoreboard. But if the Wildcats’ receivers could have hung on to some passes, that score would have looked a lot different.
Auburn needed this win just to keep any flicker of hope alive in the SEC West. Kentucky needed the win to have a hope of keeping pace with Florida in the SEC East. The scrappy Tigers hung on, thanks to some help from Kentucky’s pass-catchers.
The maturation of Kentucky quarterback Patrick Towles has been quite impressive. Unfortunately his receivers haven’t quite caught up with the Kentucky play-caller. Towles was 27 of 44 for 359 yards according to the box score, but there were at least a half dozen passes (if not more) which landed right in the hands of receivers that were simply dropped.
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Some of those passes were for big gains, a couple might have turned into scores, and Towles’ frustrations were becoming evident by the 4th quarter.
Towles would stand tall in the pocket, scramble when needed, and make an accurate throw.
Bobble, bobble, the Wildcats were in trouble.
The Auburn offense wasn’t to be overlooked in this game — as they had been in the previous five games — putting up 30 points and 407 yards of offense against the Wildcats, but only 152 on the ground. Not the typical distribution for a Gus Malzahn team. Tigers quarterback Sean White looked like he was finally getting comfortable as a starter, going 17 of 27 for 255 yards.
This was Kentucky’s game to win. They were at home, against a team that they matched up well with, and with more to lose than the Tigers. Mental mistakes — dropped passes, turnovers, untimely penalties — cost the Wilcats a win that could have had them seriously in the chase in the SEC East.
The Gators should send Auburn a nice thank you note.
The Kentucky loss adds to a huge mess in the SEC East. The Gators sitting on top without a loss, and then Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Missouri (who meet this weekend) also sitting within striking distance. In the West, Auburn’s win evens them up with Mississippi State and Arkansas at the bottom of the division with 1-2 conference records.
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Kentucky travels to Starlville to take on Mississippi State on October 24 for their next game, while Auburn will play their second straight road game at Arkansas on the same date.