Kentucky Football: There's No Time Left To Waste

Kentucky football has to make swooping changes before it’s too late. Approaching Week 3, it’s dangerously close to being too late.

The Kentucky football program is in the midst of a season worth forgetting. Just two games in, Big Blue Nation is already sensing that 2016 will be like every other season since 2010: a complete and utter letdown.

If Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats are going to reverse the longstanding misfortune, something has to change—right now.

Kentucky is a young team, which makes some of its struggles forgivable. The reality is, Mark Stoops is in his fourth year as head coach, and for as much good as he’s done, the Wildcats still haven’t played in a bowl game.

According to Jon Hale of The Courier-Journal, Stoops blames himself and his team for the losses—not the level of the competition.

“We fundamentally need to go back and get better,” Stoops said. “We can’t beat anybody until we stop beating ourselves.”

“You can’t have knee-jerk reactions, but you’d be a fool to not say that you have to look at things,” Stoops said. “Some things gotta change. Some things gotta get better, and that’s our job as a coach, and that’s my job and I understand that.”

Even if the Florida game was a lost cause, Kentucky should be 1-1 instead of 0-2.

The Wildcats jumped out to a 35-10 lead over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles during a game played in Lexington. Kentucky proceeded to allow 34 unanswered points as Southern Miss came from behind for a 44-35 win.

A week later, Florida scored 45 consecutive points before Jojo Kemp put the Wildcats on the board.

Kentucky hasn’t just lost two games; over the past two weeks, it’s been blown out.

Allowing 79 consecutive points in college football is the sign of a team having no business playing in a power conference. That’s how things are shaping up for Kentucky, which has far more potential than it does immediate intrigue.

Stoops is recruiting well and has brought the facilities at Kentucky up to par.

One simply can’t help but wonder when the results are going to reflect the recruitment.