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Cats strike early, but falter in 30-23 loss to Ole Miss

Kentucky has made it a habit of playing close games against Ole Miss.

The Wildcats (1-1) made things interesting yet again, but came up short in a 30-23 loss to the 20th-ranked Rebels in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams on Saturday. Ole Miss has won four of the past five games, all of which have been decided by 10 points or less.

"To come on the road in the SEC and win is hard,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “(The) game toward the end was like last year, but all three phases went our way this year.”

The hosts stunned the Rebels 20-17 last year, but have lost eight consecutive conference games and have recorded a 3-15 record in their previous 18 league encounters. Kentucky had its chances to end the frustration against the Rebels, who were limited to their lowest scoring output of the season after lighting up the 63-7 blowout of Georgia State in the season opener.

“I love the fight of this team,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “It's early in the year, and we have a lot of football ahead of us. That's a good thing, and I like this team. I like the way they fight and scrap, and will improve.”

Kentucky put Ole Miss on its heels early and it was the defense that helped the Wildcats produce an early 10-0 lead. A pair of interceptions by defensive back Ty Bryant led to a touchdown and a field goal for Kentucky, putting the Rebels into their first deficit of the season.

“It felt amazing getting those interceptions, but I wish we had gotten the win,” Bryant said. “I thought we played with a lot of energy, but had some mistakes like tackling and things like that that we will come in Monday and fix those things.” 

From that point on, Ole Miss chipped away at the lead and led 17-13 at the break. Kentucky managed to tie the margin at 20-20 in the third quarter before Ole Miss outscored the hosts 10-3 the rest of the way for the final margin.

In his second start, Kentucky quarterback Zach Calzada fared better than the final tally he produced in the opener and threw for 149 yards, including a season-high 44-yard strike to Ja’Mori Maclin. Calzada left the game because of an apparent shoulder injury in the fourth quarter and didn’t return.

Stoops didn’t have an update on Calzada’s status following the contest and didn’t know Calzada’s status, and added that he would like to see backup Cutter Boley more often. Boley may get that chance against Eastern Michigan on Saturday.

The offense seemed disoriented at times in the first half of the league opener, and Stoops was disappointed in the game management at times by his squad. He said the communication issues were “messy.”

“It's really inexcusable,” he said. “There are things where we are trying to get the best personnel we can with certain plays and certain things. We've got to be better (and) we've just got to function better. There were issues that we had in our communication on the sideline and with the quarterback here and there, with his communication device, but there's no excuse for it.”

Although the passing game remains a mystery, Kentucky rushed for 179 yards against a conference foe after amassing 220 in the opener against Mid-American Conference favorite Toledo. Last week it was Dante Dowdell who carried the load, but this time, Seth McGowan led the way with 93 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
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