Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops does not regret cowardly punt that helped Georgia win

This was the definition of close, but no cigar. Eventually, Kentucky is going to get one past Georgia, but in the meantime, 2009 is now another year away. It was a defensive battle, one where offense was at a premium. Georgia scored the lone touchdown in the Saturday night affair up in Lexington, winning 13-12. While Georgia tried its best to give the game away, Kentucky might have done so at the end...

One controversial decision in an otherwise brilliantly coached game for Mark Stoops was his decision to punt on a fourth-and-8 just inside of Georgia territory. Kentucky was trailing the Dawgs by what was the final score with about three minutes left in the game. Rather than going for it on fourth-and-8, the 'Cats took a delay of game penalty to pin Georgia deep inside of its own territory on a punt.

For most observers, it was the epitome of cowardice, as Kentucky was able to pick up short-to-medium gains throughout most of the game. If I were Stoops or offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, I would have ran some sort of play-action bootleg, one that would allow the mobile Brock Vandagriff to throw on the run, or scramble for the yard of gain. Instead, Georgia then chewed up most of the clock.

Mark Stoops explains why Kentucky punted to Georgia late already down

Stoops opted to go ultra-conservative with the game on the line, and it cost his Wildcats oh so dearly. But while he explained the decision to punt, he said he will regret the Dominic Lovett completion.

If there was one observation I had from the game, it was that Kentucky was not going to score a touchdown on this Georgia defense. Vandagriff was simply not accurate enough as a passer to move the sticks aerially once the field began to shrink. Another key observation was Georgia did not want to show anything on film for their next opponent in two weeks. That would be Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

However, Kentucky was dominant on both sides of the trenches. The Wildcats were able to run the ball effectively for the most part in this ball-control extraordinaire of a ballgame. The other big factor in Kentucky's favor was that placekicker Alex Raynor had ice in his veins. He was nails from wherever Kentucky asked him to kick field goals. If given the opportunity, he would have hit the game-winner.

And I think that is where Stoops has to be kicking himself. He needed to trust Vandagriff running Hamdan's offense for one more play. Nobody would have blamed UK for going on fourth-and-8 from the Georgia 47-yard line. You were in plus territory and could have really put Georgia's back up against it by taking something like a 15-13 lead inside of two minutes. Sadly, that was all for naught...

Kentucky played a fantastic game, but at the end of the day, the more talented team still prevailed.