LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky’s third-quarter performance in a 31-21 road upset of then-No. 9 Texas A&M last Saturday left ESPN’s Greg McElroy marvelling.
“For one quarter, Kentucky played football at a level that only two, maybe three programs in the SEC have played at in the last 10 years,” McElroy said on the “Always College Football” podcast.
In breaking away from a 7-7 halftime tie, UK outscored Texas A&M 21-0 in the third quarter.
For that third period, the Wildcats outgained the Aggies 196-20.
UK produced 10 first downs to A&M’s zero.
McElroy, the starting quarterback on Alabama’s 2009 national championship team, described UK’s “immaculate quarter” (my phrase, not his) as a “program spending 15 minutes in a gear that I don’t think anyone knew they had.”
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Kentucky’s smashing victory at A&M is leading to a reevaluation, both nationally and locally, of the Wildcats’ prospects for 2026.
UK (2-1, 1-1 SEC) entered the bowl projections of On3.com national college football insider Brett McMurphy this week, although the prospect of a Birmingham Bowl matchup on Dec. 29 with Scott Satterfield’s Cincinnati Bearcats likely will not fire the imagination of the Big Blue Nation.
Even though Kentucky has five games remaining vs. teams ranked in this week’s AP Top 25, local talk show host Larry Glover said that he believes, after the Texas A&M result, that Will Stein’s Wildcats have a legitimate chance at victory in all nine remaining games.
“They won’t win them all,” Glover said to me Monday morning on his digital “Larry Glover Live” show, “but they can win any of them. That’s the point.”
By my estimation, of the nine teams remaining on the UK regular-season schedule, three have so far looked more formidable than was expected of them in the preseason. Two are pretty much playing to expectations. Four have, so far, not looked as formidable as they were perceived before the season began.
In their order of appearance on the Kentucky schedule, this is how UK’s opponents look now in contrast to how they were perceived in the preseason:
— South Alabama (2-1, 0-0 Sun Belt): Coming off a 4-8 season, coach Major Applewhite’s Jaguars have been more competitive than one might have expected for a team picked to finish sixth in the Sun Belt Conference West Division. USA has an FBS win, 41-36 over Ohio University, and gave a good account of itself in a 28-24 loss at Tulane.
Verdict: More formidable
— At South Carolina (2-1, 0-1 SEC ): A 13-0 lead over visiting Mississippi State after one quarter last Saturday became a dispiriting 41-34 loss to the Bulldogs. For Shane Beamer’s Gamecocks, it was the kind of home conference loss that can derail a season.
Verdict: Less formidable.
— No. 10 LSU (2-1, 0-1 SEC): Yes, the Tigers took the “L” to Ole Miss in the massively-anticipated “Lane Kiffin Bowl” last Saturday night. But the more lasting impact on LSU from what happened in Oxford may be the Tigers losing standout safety Dashawn Spears for the season to a torn ACL.
Verdict: As expected.
— At Oklahoma (2-1, 0-0 SEC): The OU offense is a mess. After dropping 51 points on UTEP in the season opener, the Sooners have scored a combined 24 points in the two games since, a 17-10 loss at Michigan and a 14-6 win over New Mexico.
Verdict: Less formidable.
— Vanderbilt (3-0, 0-0 SEC): Vandy remained undefeated last Saturday after a gift on the last play of the game from North Carolina State produced the winning Vanderbilt touchdown in a 35-31 win. Nevertheless, the “Pavia-less” Commodores offense has not, so far, looked anywhere close to as explosive as that from last season’s 10-win team.
Verdict: Less formidable.
— At No. 14 Tennessee (3-0, 0-0 SEC): Wins over Furman, Georgia Tech and Kennesaw State haven’t told us much about Josh Heupel’s Vols. This week’s visit by No. 1 Texas to Neyland Stadium will tell a lot.
Verdict: As expected.
— No. 21 Florida (3-0, 1-0 SEC): Former UK linebacker and assistant coach Jon Sumrall led the Gators to a 44-39 win at Auburn last week in his first SEC road game as Florida head man. With ex-Georgia Tech offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner running the UF offense, the Gators are averaging 54 points a game.
Verdict: More formidable
— At No. 19 Missouri (3-0, 0-0 SEC): The Tigers have a road win at Kansas and escaped an upset bid from Troy last Saturday. But what Eli Drinkwitz and crew do not have is star running back Ahmad Hardy, whose playing status remains unclear after he suffered an offseason gunshot wound to his upper leg while leaving a concert in Mississippi.
Verdict: Less formidable.
— No. 16 Louisville (2-1, 1-0 ACC): Jeff Brohm’s Cardinals lost a shootout with now-No. 4 Ole Miss, 41-38, in the season opener and won a shootout, 41-31 over then-No. 16 SMU in their ACC opener. Avoiding the Brohm era’s all-but-annual “clunker” loss in which the Cardinals take an “L” no one saw coming will be huge to U of L’s playoff aspirations.
Verdict: More formidable
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