Kentucky football fell to Louisville 41-14 to finish the 2024 campaign 4-8 for the first time since 2003. 

Kentucky’s bowl streak was not the only streak that came to end with the loss as the Wildcats have now broken their five-game Governor’s Cup winning streak over the Cardinals also.  

After the loss, here’s four takeaways from the game and on the future of Kentucky football. 

First half momentum killers 

Kentucky received the opening kick and immediately began marching down the field by putting the ball in the hands of Jamarion Wilcox.  

Wilcox took his second rush of the game 14-yards to pick up the first down before what looked like a consecutive 10-yard plus game quickly turned into disaster.  

After going for 15-yards on the very next play, he had the ball stripped right from his hands by Louisville defender Travis Egan and it was recovered for an 8-yard gain by Tamarion McDonald.  

Although that turnover didn’t lead to Cardinal points, it killed the momentum for Kentucky’s most successful drive in the first quarter.  

Then, to open the second quarter, on a pass intended for Ja’Mori Maclin, Cutter Boley threw an interception to none other than McDonald.  

McDonald returned the interception 10-yards and set the Cardinals up inside Kentucky territory, leading to a 10-0 Louisville lead.  

On Kentucky’s last drive of the half, Boley set the Cats up in scoring position with a 29-yard completion to Hardley Gilmore IV in the red zone.  

With just two minutes left on the clock, Boley threw his second interception of the half to the hands of Tahveon Nicholson, keeping Kentucky scoreless through two quarters.  

Cardinal rushing offense couldn’t be stopped 

While the Cats were able to move the ball on the ground some, it was nothing compared to the gashes they suffered at the legs of Louisville’s running backs.  

In the first quarter, the Cardinals relied on the feet of Isaac Brown, who led the team down the field with chunk gains of 14 and eight yards before punching in the score from the 1-yard line to go up 7-0 early.  

He would be out-done by another member of the Louisville backfield in running back Duke Watson, who had himself a career day.  

Watson started it off with a 58-yard house call in the second quarter, leaving Kentucky defenders in the dust.  

Then, for his second score of the day, Watson ran in a 24-yard handoff to put the game out of reach for Kentucky late in the third quarter.  

To round things out for the Cards, Brown matched Watson and rushed in his final touchdown of the day, ripping off a 67-yard run to go up 41-14 with nine minutes to play. 

The Cardinals’ backfield finished the day with 358 yards rushing on 51 attempts and four touchdowns. 

Third down efficiency  

Third down conversion rate is one of the most telling statistics of a football game, showing how the offense performed when it’s most important, and Kentucky failed massively in this facet today. 

Even if the whopping four turnovers, two picks and two fumbles were ignored, Kentucky’s lack of momentum can be blamed on its third down efficiency against the Cardinals.  

As time expired on the clock, Kentucky had not converted a single third down play, going 0-9 to finish the game. 

Consistently making small gains on first and second down had the Cats facing third and long often.  

Meanwhile, the Cards converted on third down at a near 40% clip, going four of 11 when their offense needed it most. 

Failing to stay on the field and give the defense a rest is one of the many reasons the Cats were blown out by the Cards. 

End of an era with a glimpse into the future 

The end of the ‘24 season will say goodbye to staples of the Wildcats football team from the previous three seasons on both sides of the football.  

Seniors and super seniors Eli Cox, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, J.J. Weaver, Octavious Oxendine, Tre’vonn Rybka and even kicker Alex Raynor celebrated their final starts in blue pregame for senior day.  

Meanwhile, Kentucky fans mostly likely took their last looks at cornerstones of the program in Deone Walker, Maxwell Hairston, Dane Key and Barion Brown as all are likely to declare for the NFL draft or hit the transfer portal.  

Despite losing players BBN has come to know and love, it’s not all a blue feeling for Wildcat fans as freshman quarterback Cutter Boley got his first start after growing concerns about Brock Vandagriff.  

Boley got the nod after stepping in for Vandagriff in the second half at Texas, going 10-18 passing for 160 yards and an interception just a week ago.  

It was a slow start for the true freshman, who completed just six of 15 passes for 48 and two picks before being taken out of the game after taking a hard hit to the head that drew a targeting penalty. 

Despite the disappointing first start, Boley showed brief glimpses of talent and hit Gilmore IV for his biggest completion of 29-yards.  

UK fans should get used to that duo as both are freshmen and just might be handed the keys to the offense next year.