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Rapid Reaction: Kentucky avenges last year’s loss to Southern Miss
By Cody McClure
Published:
It took a little while for Kentucky to get going against Southern Miss, but unlike last year, it finished the job. Luckily this time its front seven didn’t get gouged in the running game.
Last year, of course, Southern Miss defeated Kentucky in Lexington 44-35 after dominating the second half 27-0.
This time, it was a different story in Hattiesburg. The Wildcats finished off Southern Miss 24-17 in their season opener. After a scoreless first quarter, Kentucky clawed away an advantage in the second and third quarters.
That advantage the ‘Cats earned early on was just enough to help them hang on late in the fourth quarter as Southern Miss’ final drive stalled.
Some takeaways from the game:
Positive momentum in Week 1
Kentucky won the game, so let’s start there. It’s not like Southern Miss is a major quality victory, but the fact that the ‘Cats got the job done in Week 1 is big. As mentioned above, Kentucky lost to the Golden Eagles last season, and then got blown out by Florida in Week 2 before reeling off a few wins. Had the Wildcats started last season off better, they may have been taken more seriously as an SEC East contender. Getting a road win over a quality opponent will only help perception this year.
Offense has work to do
The Wildcats didn’t look stellar on the offensive side of the ball Saturday. Their running game was expected to be the strength of the offense this year, but it only amassed 78 yards against the Golden Eagles. Benny Snell Jr. led the way with 67 of those yards on 20 carries. That’s not too encouraging, but the Wildcats were held under 100 yards on the ground in last year’s game, as well. The difference this year is that they didn’t throw for over 300 as they did last year. This time around, Kentucky had just 179 passing yards. And all in all, Kentucky put up only 257 yards.
Defensive front seven looks aggressive
While the offense wasn’t impressive, Kentucky’s front seven looked nasty… in a good way. The Wildcats allowed just 55 rushing yards to the Golden Eagles after giving up 262 on the ground a year ago. Kentucky also forced four fumbles (and recovered three), hence that aggressive part. The Wildcats were hitting hard. The defense as a whole wasn’t overly impressive, because the secondary allowed over 300 passing yards. That’s not a good sign considering the Golden Eagles lost former standout Nick Mullens. Still, that interior looked good.
Cody McClure is an SEC Football Writer for Saturday Down South. He lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he also co-hosts a midday sports radio show for FOX Sports. Cody previously worked for Athlon Sports.
