Saturday Blitz
Fansided

Kentucky Football: 5 takeaways from Wildcats’ 2018 season

By Shelbie Warr

ORLANDO, FL - JANUARY 01: Lynn Bowden Jr. #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats runs for a first down after catching a pass against Jan Johnson #36 of the Penn State Nittany Lions in the third quarter of the VRBO Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium on January 1, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL - JANUARY 01: Lynn Bowden Jr. #1 of the Kentucky Wildcats runs for a first down after catching a pass against Jan Johnson #36 of the Penn State Nittany Lions in the third quarter of the VRBO Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium on January 1, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 5
Next
ORLANDO, FL – JANUARY 01: Benny Snell Jr. #26 of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts after rushing for a 12-yard touchdown against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the third quarter of the VRBO Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium on January 1, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
ORLANDO, FL – JANUARY 01: Benny Snell Jr. #26 of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts after rushing for a 12-yard touchdown against the Penn State Nittany Lions in the third quarter of the VRBO Citrus Bowl at Camping World Stadium on January 1, 2019 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

1. The 2018 season created expectations, proved a lot

Don’t let any Kentucky fan lie to you, many years the football season went so badly that they simply started counting down until basketball season. This was not a football school and everyone knew it, heck even the players knew it and the recruiting each season showed that. It is hard to grab top recruits in a conference full of teams that are quite obviously better than you that are vying for the very same guys.

However, these last two seasons — 2018 especially — proved that Kentucky can hang around with the big boys now. Now the question is, can the Wildcats live with that weight on their shoulders? Like I said earlier, the last two 10-win seasons for Kentucky were followed by losing efforts. Those two teams managed four and five wins, something that simply won’t be acceptable by the fans now that are tuning in to watch Kentucky play football.

Next. NFL Mock Draft 2019: Where will Kyler Murray land?. dark

Simply put, Kentucky now has those kind of expectations that programs like Florida and Georgia face on a daily basis. They are now believed to be one of the big kids and they are now required  like one. There is no more messing around or underachieving. Kentucky will have to find a way to plug the holes on both sides of the ball and put together a 2019 that lives up to expectations.

Home/Kentucky Wildcats