Kentucky vs. Florida: Game Grades, Analysis for Wildcats and Gators

In what will likely be one of the most exciting college football matchups this season, the Florida Gators were able to get the 36-30 victory over the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday night.

It wasn’t pretty for Florida throughout the entire game, but the victory is all that matters. What appeared to be a defensive battle early in the game turned into a shootout in the second half.

Kentucky played much better than most folks expected and got solid play from the quarterback position. Patrick Towles, in his third career start, threw for 369 yards and three touchdowns. Despite three interceptions, Towles made plays and put the Wildcats in a position to win.

Florida will need to shore up the defensive issues we saw Saturday night, because next week the Gators will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Final stats from the game can be found here at NCAA.com.   

Position Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	B-	B-
Rushing Offense	C-	C
Pass Defense	B+	C-
Run Defense	C	C-
Special Teams	B+	B-
Coaching	B	B

Kentucky Wildcats Game Grades

Passing Offense: Towles played well throughout the game, and his good plays made up for his bad ones. He threw three interceptions, but one of them only happened after his receiver dropped the pass.

Towles took advantage of a questionable performance from Florida's secondary and surprised many people with his final stats.

Rushing Offense: The Wildcats were able to get a decent effort in the run game from Braylon Heard and Jojo Kemp, but overall it wasn't a big performance on the ground. The Wildcats finished with 81 total rushing yards on 33 carries, so the majority of the offense came from the passing game.

Pass Defense: The Wildcats played well in the first half and even came up with a big interception. In the second half, the Gators were able to do big things though the air, so this unit doesn't grade out as well in the end.

Run Defense: The Gators were able to get yards on the ground pretty much all night. While there weren't a ton of big gains, the Wildcats were eventually worn down by the tough runs.

Special Teams: We saw some good things in the kicking/punting game from the Wildcats, but the final kick is the one Kentucky fans will remember. Austin MacGinnis finished the night 3-of-4 on his field goals.

Coaching: It was a great effort from head coach Mark Stoops and company Saturday night, as the Wildcats almost pulled off the upset victory. Stoops has clearly changed the mindset of this team, which now plays physically and aggressively on both sides of the ball.

I thought Stoops managed the game well, and his assistants did a solid job too.

Position Unit	First-Half Grade	Final Grade
Passing Offense	C-	B+
Rushing Offense	B	B
Pass Defense	C	C-
Run Defense	B	B
Special Teams	B	B
Coaching	C	B

Florida Gators Game Grades

Passing Offense: It wasn't pretty in the first half, but the overall performance from Jeff Driskel Saturday night wasn't bad. He looked out of rhythm in the first two quarters, but he was able to make some big plays down the stretch for the Gators.

Rushing Offense: The Gators were also able to get good contributions from the rushing attack. Matt Jones led all rushers with 156 yards, and Florida was able to total 237 total rushing yards.

The Gators were able to pound out yardage when they needed it, and Jones was very physical in this game.

Pass Defense: The secondary is one of the issues that Florida will need to address before they take on Alabama next Saturday. Even though the unit came up with three interceptions, it allowed too many big plays through the air.

Run Defense: The run defense was pretty effective for the Gators. The front seven, led by Dante Fowler Jr., was able to get good penetration and kept Kentucky's rushing totals low.

Special Teams: Florida played well in this area. One of the big plays was the kick return from Andre Debose that set the Gators up with good field position, but punter Kyle Christy was effective also. He averaged 48.7 yards per punt in the game, including a 61-yard punt.

Coaching: People still have Will Muschamp on the hot seat, but all that matters is he got the victory. Offensive coordinator Kurt Roper made some good adjustments at halftime, which helped Florida break away offensively in the second half.