'I don't need' pity: What we learned in Kentucky's six-point home loss to Tennessee

LEXINGTON — Twice during his opening statement Saturday night, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops noted his team had just played in a "great football game." And he dug into the deep bag of football clichés to note Saturday was a "game of inches."

Inches. Yards. Feet. Miles.

Pick any measurement. It doesn't much matter. All would ascertain the same outcome: Kentucky coming up short, yet again, versus border rival Tennessee.

The Volunteers jumped to a 10-0 first-quarter lead and never trailed, holding on for a 33-27 win at Kroger Field.

"Very disappointed that myself and our coaches couldn't find a few more plays to pull off a victory," said Stoops, who fell to 2-9 against the Volunteers as the Wildcats' coach.

Here are three takeaways from Kentucky's six-point loss to Tennessee:

Wildcats' hopes for special season hanging by thread

Kentucky entered this fall filled with optimism for what might be in the offing.

It brought back heralded offensive coordinator Liam Coen, who led the unit to lofty heights during his previous stint in 2021. It welcomed one of the best quarterbacks in the transfer portal in Devin Leary. The special teams were overhauled with the addition of new coordinator Jay Boulware, who had worked wonders in that phase everywhere he's been. And with the ever-steady Brad White guiding the defense, led by star lineman (and future NFL draft pick) Deone Walker, little dropoff was expected from a group that annually has been one of the best in the SEC (and the country).

Through five games, it was smooth sailing. Kentucky was 5-0, including victories over Vanderbilt and Florida in the SEC.

Now the Wildcats are O-for-October.

They've played three games. They've suffered three losses.

Whatever dreams they still harbor of having a season to remember — instead of a fall to forget — are hanging in the balance in their final four regular-season games.

To reach 10 wins in a season for only the fifth time in school history, UK (5-3, 2-3 SEC) must win out: beat Mississippi State, Alabama, South Carolina and Louisville, then a to-be-determined foe in a bowl game.

Mississippi State, on paper, is one of the worst teams in the conference. In an ideal world for UK, it should easily chalk up a victory next week. Except for the fact the game is in Starkville, Mississippi, where the Wildcats haven't won since 2008.

Alabama is Alabama. Kentucky only has topped the Crimson Tide two times in 41 tries (though it did tie the Tide once).

South Carolina is on the brink of collapse, having lost four straight. With no margin for error to earn bowl eligibility, the Gamecocks will throw everything into their last four games — and they already lack little motivation against the Wildcats.

Then there's Louisville, 7-1 under first-year coach Jeff Brohm. The Cardinals haven't held the Governor's Cup aloft since 2017. They'll be ready when the Wildcats come to town Nov. 25.

It's a four-game stretch that would test even teams teeming with confidence.

Much less a team searching for answers amid a three-game losing streak.

Stoops won't allow anyone to pity him. Or his team.

"I don't need it. I don't need any motivation to get back to work tomorrow, and neither does our team and our staff," he said. "It hurts (to lose) because we invest a lot, our players invest a lot and our fans invest a lot. So it hurts. And (I'm) very disappointed.

"But not discouraged one bit."

Kentucky QB Devin Leary finally plays as advertised

Since Kentucky started league play, it's been a struggle for Devin Leary. Prior to Saturday, he had failed to complete more than 52% of his attempts or throw for more than 250 yards in four SEC outings.

He looked like a different player against the Volunteers.

Leary was 28-of-39 (71.8%) passing for 372 yards and two touchdowns. Both the completion percentage and yardage totals were season bests for the New Jersey native. Also of note: He wasn't intercepted.

Leary said the key to his success — against a UT outfit that was No. 3 in the SEC in pass efficiency defense and had been allowing barely 200 passing yards per game — was simply execution. Going through his reads, the pre- and post-snap processes. Everything Coen asks of his field general.

"It’s tough that we are coming off a loss because of how much work we put in coming off the bye and getting extra preparation on Tennessee," Leary said. "We felt really good going into this one, but for us in the pass game, it was only a matter of time for us. We were just a couple plays and clicks away from an execution standpoint from doing what we wanted.

"But there’s always room for improvement."

While Leary's stellar performance came in a losing effort, finally finding his rhythm with his receivers should bode well going forward, particularly against Mississippi State and South Carolina, which sport two of the most porous pass defenses in the FBS.

UK defense in free-fall after stellar start to season

Fifty-one points (and 608 yards) to Georgia. Thirty-eight points to Missouri. Thirty-three points (and 481 yards) Saturday.

It's been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad October for Kentucky's defense.

"They're hurting," White said. "Listen, this group wants to be good. They want to play good football. They want to make those plays. Nobody's going in there wanting to miss a tackle or wanting to fall down.

"But the thing is, in the game of football ... it's just a couple of plays, and I think they're all hurting because they all remember the plays they missed and they didn't (make)."

Senior linebacker D'Eryk Jackson said despite the underwhelming results in recent outings, the defense isn't down on itself.

“As we said in the locker room, we have to keep building," said Jackson, who recorded 11 tackles Saturday, including two tackles for loss, which tied his personal best. "In this league, people are losing and winning, and you never know who is going to win.

"The league is crazy, and we just have to keep building and be grown men who keep going."

More: Kentucky football fights but falls to Tennessee as Wildcats drop third consecutive game

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky football: Mark Stoops' team suffers third straight loss