Column: Nothing went right in repeat loss to Gators

For UK, Saturday’s two objectives against No. 1 Florida were fairly simple:
First, if the upset isn’t going to happen, don’t get beaten in an embarrassing fashion.

Second, make sure the injuries were minimal. Neither was accomplished on Saturday, as Florida rolled off 31 first quarter points, and several starters finished the game with injuries that will linger for at least a week.

Last season, the Cats suffered a 63-5 defeat in Gainesville, Fla., the type of game many thought UK had put in its past. Saturday’s 41-7 loss wasn’t as shocking or eye-dropping, but the reaction among those watching was pretty much the same — the performance was unwatchable.

“I’m very frustrated,” UK head coach Rich Brooks said. “I am embarrassed by the way we played for the first fifteen minutes. I felt like I had never coached a down in my life the way we came out in that first fifteen minutes at home. It just didn’t make much sense.

“Eerily close to last year in how we played the first fifteen minutes.”

It’s true. There may not have been three blocked kicks, but Florida did block one punt for a touchdown. Tim Tebow was Mr. Everything all over again, having over 150 all-purpose yards in the first quarter alone. UK had 12 plays for 1 yard in the first quarter. Florida had 21 for 223 yards.

Different location, same result.

The thing is, UK has progressed too much to have games like this. Even Brooks admits it.

“I think we’re a little bit beyond starting a game like that,” he said.

In his post game news conference, Brooks put all the blame for the loss to Florida on his shoulders. A lot of times when coaches do that, it’s a classy way to cover for mistakes the players made. And on Saturday, UK’s players made a lot of mistakes. But this loss is on Brooks.

Florida didn’t change anything from last year. It’s the same read-option offense. All 11 defensive starters were back, along with all the special-teamers and the same Heisman-winner at quarterback. Florida didn’t kill UK by spreading the field, it beat UK by allowing Tebow to make one simple decision on most of the plays — put the ball in the gut of my running back, or keep it and run it himself.

It didn’t matter which one Tebow chose. As long as the ball was going up the middle, it was a good decision.

UK on the other hand, lacked good decision making. Guys couldn’t line up on the ball correctly, couldn’t stop from making costly penalties and couldn’t stop putting holes in their foot. Sure, Florida is the No. 1 team in the nation, but it isn’t like UK doesn’t play them every year. Intimidation shouldn’t be a factor.

Florida has better players, even better coaches. In college football, the underdog always has a chance to win. UK had that same chance on Saturday. But instead of correcting last year’s mistakes in The Swamp, UK repeated them all over again. Sure, the final three quarters of the game saw improvement, but the game was over by then.

So instead of riding a wave of momentum, even in defeat, into next Saturday’s showdown with No. 3 Alabama, the Cats are limping into it.

“If we let this overwhelm us too long we’ll let Alabama come in our house and get us,” senior linebacker Sam Maxwell said.

What’s worse, being Gator bait or Rolled by the Tide? If next Saturday is like the one the Cats just experienced, we’ll know pretty quickly.

Kenny Colston is a journalism senior. E-mail kcolston@kykernel.com.