LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky has learned the hard way just how small the margin for error will be during a 10-game, all-SEC slate.
For the second week in a row to open the season, the Wildcats fell victim to self-inflicted mistakes, this time in a 42-41 overtime loss to Ole Miss on Saturday night at Kroger Field.
After turning the ball over three times and committing a crucial special teams mistake last week in a 29-13 loss at Auburn, Kentucky (0-2) had a fumble at the goal line, a missed field goal, and a missed extra point in overtime to spoil a potential bounce-back win over the Rebels.
"Very difficult way to lose a football game," UK head coach Mark Stoops said. "It's been a crazy year, and this season is going to be different. It's going to be difficult playing a 10-game SEC schedule, and games are going to be close.
"We have to make those plays in critical moments to win us football games."
The Cats lost despite gaining 559 yards on offense, including a 408-yard rushing effort that featured three 100-yard backs in Chris Rodriguez (133), Terry Wilson (129), and AJ Rose (117).
Unfortunately for UK, the rushing attack also contributed to the loss. Rose, who appeared to be streaking to a 75-yard touchdown run on the Cats' first play of the game, seemed to pull up prematurely and celebrate before reaching the end zone. He was tracked down from behind by Ole Miss defensive back Jakorey Hawkins at the 3-yard line, and two plays later Rose lost a fumble at the goal line.
"We've been a very unselfish football team through the years, and that's a mistake that you can't have," Stoops said. "A.J. means well. He's a great young man. I'm not going to give up on him for one mistake. We will certainly point out and show him, and he understands that, that it's not acceptable. That's not how we do things. That's not how we're going to do it."
Later, UK kicker Matt Ruffolo missed a 49-yard field goal, and ultimately, the game-deciding extra point after the Cats scored first to open overtime on a 10-yard run by Wilson.
Said Stoops: "We'll continue to work both guys. We'll continue to work Matt (Ruffalo). We'll work Chance (Poore). If we feel like Chance gives us a better opportunity, then we'll go with him."
Ole Miss (1-1) was led by quarterback Matt Corral, who completed 24 of 29 passes for 320 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. It was his second straight huge performance after posting 395 yards and three TDs last week against No. 3 Florida.
Jonathan Mingo caught eight of those passes for the Rebels, racking up 128 yards and two touchdowns.
"They were doing what they wanted to do, to be honest with you," Stoops said. "They really had us off balance."
“Obviously awesome win for our fans, for our kids," said Lane Kiffin, who won his first game as the new head coach at Ole Miss. "You know crazy game to be down like that and for them to come back, go to overtime, just really a crazy game. It was just really great to see our guys battle back. We didn’t play great in a lot of areas and we stuttered on offense for a little while -- we obviously didn’t stop the run -- but at the end of the day you just have to score more than they do."
*****
In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss…
THE GOOD:
Kentucky's offensive line and ground game were as good as expected, mauling the Rebels for 408 yards. Terry Wilson showed improvement between Weeks 1 and 2, taking care of the football while adding 151 yards passing to his 129 yards and three scores on the ground. Max Duffy did his typical Max Duffy things in the punting game, flipping the field several times on an average of 50 yards per kick.
THE BAD:
Kentucky's secondary has been torched two weeks in a row after being billed as one of the strengths of the team leading into the season. Opposing quarterbacks are now 40 of 56 (71 percent) for 553 yards and six touchdowns and no interceptions. That's against a Uk defense that finished second only to Ohio State nationally last year in pass defense and returned all of its secondary while adding former four-star recruit and LSU transfer Kelvin Joseph to the mix.
THE UGLY:
It's going to be a rough week for AJ Rose, whose miscue on the first drive of the game may have cost the Cats dearly. Stoops always preaches that one play can beat you, and you never know when that play might come during a game. In this case, it happened to be on the first play for UK.
GAME BALL:
Matt Corral, Ole Miss -- The Rebs' talented sophomore quarterback missed on only four throws all day, posting a 221.0 rating. He is now 46 of 60 on the season with seven touchdowns and just one interception.
BY THE NUMBERS:
0 - Turnovers forced by the Kentucky defense through two games.
2nd - Straight trip to Lexington won on the Rebels’ final offensive snap
3 -Targets for Ole Miss tight end Kenny Yeboah, resulting in three catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
5 - Missed PATs for UK since the start of the 2018 season.
5 of 6 - Ole Miss success in the red zone. The only stop was a 4th-and-goal stand by the Cats in the third quarter.
7.3 - Rushing yards per attempt by UK.
8-81 - Penalties and yardage flagged against the Cats, including a critical overtime pass interference call against Kelvin Joseph in the end zone to give the Rebels 1st-and-goal at the 2.
21 - Unanswered points by the Rebels after UK took a 28-14 lead on its opening drive of the second half.
42 - Points by Ole Miss snapped UK's nation-leading streak of surrendering 34 or fewer points at 28 games.
459 - Total yards by Ole Miss, snapping a streak of 10 straight games that the UK defense had held an opponent under the 400 mark.
2016 - Last time UK lost a game while rushing for 400-plus yards, falling at Tennessee despite a 443-yard effort.
QUOTABLE:
"He missed the extra point, but it's a team sport. We didn't execute like we should have (on defense)." -- UK defensive lineman Josh Paschal on his unit's mindset after the Cats' Matt Ruffolo missed the extra point to begin overtime.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action next Saturday at home against No. 16 Mississippi State. Former UK assistant coach Mike Leach makes his return to Lexington as the Bulldogs' new head coach. Mississippi State (1-0), fresh off its impressive Week 1 win at LSU, plays Arkansas later tonight.
