Cats Now Have Tougher Road for Winning Season; No. 1 Georgia is Next

By Jamie H. Vaught

It was a must-win game against South Carolina over the weekend and the Wildcats, a 9.5-point favorite, didn’t deliver, dropping to the unranked Gamecocks 31-6 in one of UK’s worst losses during the Coach Mark Stoops era.

A very frustrated Stoops said, “I’m not real happy with the way we played. I’m not real happy with the way we coached. I’m not real happy with the way we responded, you know, the way we executed, our effort, any of it. It’s not good enough. It’s not acceptable.”

Demie Sumo-Karngbaye (UK Athletics Photo by Morgan Simmons)

The task is now more difficult than ever for Kentucky to come up with a winning season as the Wildcats are facing one of the nation’s toughest schedules. 

If UK continues to struggle, the remaining winnable games against SEC foes in October -- Vanderbilt (at Lexington), Florida (at Gainesville) and Auburn (at Lexington) -- won’t be very winnable. It looks like the Commodores aren’t the same ones that we have seen in the past. Vanderbilt received 18 votes in this week’s Associated Press poll, good for 34th place, just ahead of South Carolina, which had 10 votes. So far, Vandy has beaten Virginia Tech (34-27 in overtime) and Alcorn State (55-0)

And the Wildcats have three nonconference games left – Ohio, Murray State and No. 19 Louisville.

The 2024 season, however, isn’t over with 10 games left and there is time to fix the problems.

“We kind of shot ourselves in the foot today a few times,” said Kentucky QB Brock Vandagriff, who struggled along with the offensive line, completing only three out of 10 passes for 30 yards as well as getting nine carries for minus 29 yards. “Everything is pretty correctable. I’m going to have to watch the film and get back to it. USC has a great team, but at the end of the day, we beat ourselves on offense.”

On Vandagriff, Stoops said, “I’m sure Brock will bounce back. He’s tough, he’s resilient. He will compete, I know that. We have to do a good job of putting him in a position to be successful. We’ve got to get him some time and give him something to give him an opportunity.”

One of UK’s few highlights against the Gamecocks was the play of senior running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, who had a career-high 17 rushes for a Kentucky-high 70 yards. His previous career-high rushes came during his time at NC State on 14 attempts

while at East Carolina in 2022.

DOGS, CATS CLASH SATURDAY At KROGER FIELD

Vandagriff will be facing his former team Saturday night when the Wildcats face the top-ranked Bulldogs at Kroger Field. He spent three years at Georgia as a backup passer.

“Georgia’s got a good squad,” said Vandagriff. “We’ve got a good squad as well, but the main thing on my mind right now is putting this (USC) game to bed. Make sure we get in, get our corrections, and go through those at full speed on Monday. And then, we’ll attack Georgia when it’s time.”

Over the years, UK has struggled mightily against UGA, which has won 14 straight games in the series between both schools and many of the losses were blowouts. And Stoops’ head coaching record against the Bulldogs is 0-11. 

Will Stoops notch his first win over Georgia Saturday night?  It won’t be easy as the oddsmakers are picking the Dogs, who have Heisman Trophy candidate Carson Beck at quarterback, as a 23.5-point favorite (as of Sunday evening). 

Georgia coach Kirby Smart discusses with QB Carson Beck during Saturday's win over Tennessee Tech. (UGA Athletics Photo by Tony Walsh)

In addition, seven of 11 UGA starters return from last season’s defense that ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense (15.6 ppg).

Georgia, which dominated then-No. 14 Clemson 34-3 in the season opener, is lead by coach Kirby Smart, who is beginning his ninth year at the Bulldog helm with an overall record of 96-16 going into Saturday’s game with two national championships. In the last 50 games, Georgia has posted an unbelievable mark of 48-2 with a school record streak of 41 consecutive regular season victories.

Speaking of Smart, he was a four-year letterman at defensive back for Georgia, where he was a first team All-SEC selection as a senior. He led the SEC in interceptions during his final season. He also did very well in the classroom, earning the SEC Academic Honor Roll four times before getting his bachelor’s degree in finance in 1998.

Interestingly, Smart’s wife, the former Mary Beth Lycett, played basketball at Georgia where she was a two-year starter.  The couple, however, met long after their undergraduate days at Georgia when she worked in the UGA Athletic Association Business Office and helped arrange Smart’s trip to interview for the Bulldogs’ running backs coaching job in 2005.

Smart is currently unbeaten against all active head coaches over the past five years. The coaches no longer active who have wins over Georgia during this stretch include Nick Saban (three) along with Will Muschamp, Ed Orgeron and Dan Mullen. 

Muschamp is now with Georgia, his alma mater, and serves as an off-field defensive analyst to spend more time with family. His youngest son, Whit, is a freshman quarterback at Vanderbilt while his oldest son, Jackson, was a quarterback at Georgia. 

During his early years, Muschamp spent one year in Richmond where coached the defensive backs at Eastern Kentucky under legendary coach Roy Kidd in 1999.

The 7:30 ET game will be shown on ABC network with Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and

Molly McGrath calling the action.

Jamie H. Vaught, a longtime sports columnist in Kentucky, is the author of six books about UK basketball, including recently-published “Forever Crazy About The Cats: An Improbable Journey of a Kentucky Sportswriter Overcoming Adversity.” Now a retired college professor who taught at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Middlesboro., he is the editor and founder of KySportsStyle.com Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter @KySportsStyle or reach him via email at KySportsStyle@gmail.com.