Did we see the same movie again at Kroger Field on Saturday night? It certainly felt that way. In front of a sellout crowd, Kentucky left its home stadium with a ninth loss in its last 11 SEC games. As with the loss to South Carolina in Week 2, all three phases of situational football fell short and failed the team.

In a 20-13 home loss to Vanderbilt, the Wildcats were unable to finish drives, win in the Middle Eight or even complete a snap on field goal attempts. All of this played a role in the disappointing defeat.

Kentucky leaves points on the board

We all knew the matchup with Vanderbilt would involve limited possessions for the Kentucky offense. This means the Wildcats had to maximize their scoring opportunities against the Commodores.

Bush HamdanThe offense didn’t do that.

Kentucky finished the game averaging 5.8 yards per play off the knee, a 48.2 percent success rate and created five scoring opportunities on seven possessions. So the job is done, but you have to finish the rides with points. The Wildcats struggled to accomplish that on Saturday.

An unsportsmanlike penalty is due Dane Key turned a third-and-two at the Vanderbilt 29 into a drive that ended with a punt on the game’s first possession. That was a sign of the future. A lost fumble by Key in the second quarter negated what would have been a possession in the red zone. A pre-snap penalty on the first possession of the second half turned a second-and-goal at the Vanderbilt 1 into a dropped snap on a field goal attempt.

The Wildcats continually moved the football but did not have a play longer than 23 yards. Making explosives remains a problem, and some untimely penalties have taken points straight off the scoreboard.

In a one-possession loss, all of these mistakes on offense are clearly noticeable. This unit dropped the ball on Saturday and leaves Week 6 having scored just four touchdowns in four SEC games.

The defense can’t find stops in the middle 8

Football coaches choose to defer after winning the coin toss to get a chance at a double-dip possession at the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third quarter. Vanderbilt head coach Clark Leah was rewarded for this decision.

Vanderbilt played complementary football at the end of the second quarter with a good punt that led to a quick stop and ultimately flipped field position. The Commodores began their final drive of the first half with 1:35 remaining in the second quarter. Six plays later, Vandy took a 14-7 lead with 13 seconds left in the second quarter. After halftime, Vandy marched 44 yards on 11 plays, playing with more than seven minutes left on the game clock, to take a 17-7 lead Brock Taylor 49-yard field goal.

With the game in the balance, Kentucky’s defense had a few opportunities to get off the field and win in a high-leverage situation. Instead, Vanderbilt scored 10 points before Kentucky’s offense could touch the ball again.

Kentucky’s defense played well enough to win on Saturday, but the unit failed in some key moments and that made a big difference in the game.

Lack of competitions

There were multiple dropped snaps, over 100 penalty yards and two lost turnovers in seven possessions. Kentucky punted just twice and had possession inside the Vanderbilt 30 five times and scored just 13 points.

The Wildcats struggled to make winning plays on Saturday. This ultimately led to another disappointing home defeat.

Kentucky consistently shot itself in the foot on offense, gave up a 53.8 percent success rate on defense and simply didn’t finish when it needed to. This causes the team to falter again.

Mark Stoops and his team are now 3:3 (1:3) at halftime, with three SEC away games and a home game against Louisville still on the schedule. It’s time to show some determination, but the remaining schedule is difficult. The season could still be derailed if Kentucky doesn’t win again when it matters most.