The mood is distinctly foul within the Big Blue Nation after Kentucky's 44-6 loss to Tennessee and that is illustrated perhaps nowhere better than in your "hot takes" after the game.

Here they are along with responses from CI publisher Justin Rowland.

When the offensive line plays as poorly as it has this year a lot of things are going to be worse than they otherwise would be. But eight games into the season, it's your job as a staff to find things that work and to improve in areas.

I'm sure they have tried different things, but those things haven't been working more often than not.

Levis has probably been too much of a pocket passer this season. That's what he is, but his athleticism is a positive, not a negative, and it hasn't been used.

I'm not ready to say they need to worry about bowl eligibility. I mean, they're 5-3 (2-3 SEC).

But it had to be disheartening to see Kentucky get that kind of national television primetime opportunity against an archrival in a top-20 matchup and completely blow the opportunity.

No doubt the forecast there has probably changed. The good news is, Kentucky has a good relationship with the National Playmakers Academy group that has a lot of players. I don't see that pipeline drying up or going away soon, but having Tennessee rise like this and then losing to them like that certainly doesn't help.

It makes everything harder for Kentucky. Georgia is Georgia. To have two elite teams in the East changes the way we have to talk about UK's situation in the SEC.

There's still a path for Kentucky to get to 8-4, and if that happens then I can't say that a lot of people would have vastly overrated them. It seems like a lot of people were picking 8-4 or so in the preseason, maybe more 9-3?

Having said that, when you have a backfield like Levis/C Rod, not turning that into a bigger season is inevitably going to be viewed as a disappointment.

That's one thing I wouldn't fault them for. If they don't think he's ready, they don't think his ready. We can say that nothing else is working, but maybe he really is that far away from being able to make an impact. Rivals had Goodwin as a 4-star and I think that was the right call because there was more of a learning curve than there typically is for a five-star player. They're probably trying to put him in a position to succeed so they don't mess with his confidence or mental approach long-term.

Buy. It makes it harder for Kentucky to have a chance to beat elite teams. You can't just line up and pound the ball between the tackles against most really good teams and expect to beat them. They can take that away. Playing so bunched up and not using more of the field makes you easier to defend, and playing so slow gives you very little margin for error with so few possessions. I readily concede that there are points to be made on both sides of this, but if you're last in tempo and more pro style than most other teams, there should be an explanation for that in terms of why it's working and it's hard to see that.

At this point you have to think they're in that Music City Bowl tier, give or take a line on the pecking order. I'm probably never going to be of the mind that seven or eight wins and the Music City Bowl is a "bad" year for Kentucky but it's not what folks were hoping for and that seems to be where they are.

I agree, both in the big picture and specific to this year. They're pretty young on offense and have a struggling line. That makes it harder to be aggressive. They don't have to take a bunch of deep shots, just play at a faster pace and like you're not trying to run the clock out in the first half.

It's a little early to say that from where I'm standing. Not living up to the more optimistic predictions or expectations in one season is one thing, but next year could be totally different. The farthest I'll go is saying it's a missed opportunity for the kind of season they could have had, and they have some outstanding questions to answer moving forward.

As to whether Stoops can take Kentucky to the next level, what would that be? For me, probably getting to a New Year's Six Bowl. Three or four SEC teams can get to either that level or the playoff. That's expanded playoff conversation. For me, the next level wouldn't be winning the East.

It might be hard to win the East in the near future with both UGA and UT looking like this.

The only thing I'll say about that is I think you have to hope to see things moving in the right direction for the last month of the season. If they start to right the ship then I could see going into next season with some momentum. And really, the storylines for next year are already written. How improved will the o-line be? Who is Levis' successor? Do they land a portal running back?

I'm struggling to argue with Levis/C Rod as the best backfield tandem that I can remember, by talent, but it's also fair to point out that Levis has never put up huge numbers at the college level and most of the hype surrounding him is about what he could be, more than what he has been or proven.