LEXINGTON — Kentucky has lost three games this season. Each time, the opponent won the turnover battle.
In UK’s 21-14 loss to Florida on Saturday, there was only one turnover. Kentucky committed it. Though it didn’t happen on the last play of the game, Kenny Minchey’s lost fumble shifted the momentum in favor of the Gators.
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“The sack fumble, obviously not a good play for us tonight,” Minchey said afterward. “You know, you want to be able to feel that. (You) want to be able obviously block up front, and yeah, just unfortunate. I have to be able to hold on to the football.”
In the first half, Florida’s defense was on the field when it found its first points. Kentucky was called for a holding in its end zone, which by rule, results in a safety.
Kentucky began the second half with the ball and a 7-2 lead. On the second play of the third quarter, Minchey was hit by Jayden Woods, who forced the strip sack that Florida was able to recover on the Wildcats’ 30-yard line.
“I think a lot of our turnovers have become because our edge players are hitting the quarterback as they’re throwing or disrupting the passing rhythm of the quarterback,” UK coach Will Stein said. “I think we just aren’t doing a good enough job.”
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The Gators capitalized when Jaden Baugh scored to give his team its first lead of the night. Following that moment, Florida’s offense became more fluid.
Kentucky punched back, taking a 14-10 lead. But on their next offensive possession, the Gators crossed midfield for the first time all night, finishing that drive with a field goal.
They were able to stop Kentucky and secure the final touchdown of the night with 9:11 left in the contest. The Wildcats had their chances, but couldn’t put up points.
“We’ve got to get in the red zone, and we’ve got to really make plays in the red zone,” UK tight end Willie Rodriguez said. “They schemed us up pretty well, but we also made plays, too. Like I said, we just got to go back to finishing drives.”
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And when Florida stumped Kentucky on 4th down with 5:29 left in the game, the Gators maintained a drive that lasted nearly four minutes. Their ability to get it done on the ground forced Stein to use all of his timeouts, which left Minchey and the offense 1:48 to get 64 yards.
Florida didn’t even let them pick up one. Minchey threw four consecutive incompletions.
On a night when yards were tough to find and points even more so, UK’s lone fumble felt like the play of the game.
The Gators’ offense woke up and their defense buckled down. Though the Cats lost the turnover battle by one, it was enough to change the game and prove that it’s one of the main reasons they’ve lost their games this season.
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Reach sports trending writer Alaina Morris at amorris@gannett.com and follow her on X at @alainammorris.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Common theme in Kentucky’s losses rears its ugly head against Florida
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
