COLUMBIA, Mo. (LEX 18) — Kentucky's offense was held silent as the Wildcats fell to Missouri 20-10 Saturday in Columbia, Mo.
"We were beaten in every area," said Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops. "They kicked the tail out of us from beginning to end. They controlled the football, they were physical, they got aggravating rushing yards, got first downs, possessed the football and just constantly held onto the ball. Offensively we had way too many three and outs."
There was no rhythm offensively, where the unit saw a quarterback change when Joey Gatewood came in for Terry Wilson, only to see Wilson come back into the game in the third quarter, then they went back to Gatewood again in the fourth.
The Wildcats only had 145 total yards offensively, possessed the ball for 16:50 minutes compared to Mizzou's 43:10 minutes, and were 2-9 on third downs.
Missouri ran 92 plays to Kentucky's 36.
Wilson was just 3-9 for 35 yards through the air, including a 26 yard touchdown to Josh Ali in the fourth quarter.
UK's running game, which has averaged over 200 yards per game this season, was held to a season low 98 yards.
The defense wasn't much better, allowing over 400 yards of total offense and allowing 10-20 third down conversions.
True freshman Connor Bazelak, who was recruited by Kentucky, finished the game 21-30 for 201 yards.
Running back Larry Rountree rushed the ball 37 times for 126 yards and a touchdown.
Wildcats safety Yusuf Corker had 16 solo tackles, tying the single-game school record set by Larry Smith vs. Tulane in 1984 and Jeff Zurcher vs. Georgia in 1998.
Missouri's win snaps a five-game losing streak to Kentucky.
Kentucky now falls to 2-3 this year and has a lot of work to do before hosting Georgia next weekend.
4th Quarter
Kentucky began the quarter with possession of the ball and went straight down the field for clearly its best drive of the game. The Wildcats began the drive with five straight runs before Wilson lobbed a beautiful 26 yard touchdown pass to Josh Ali and making it a one possession game.
Missouri would milk more of the clock and add a field goal with 3:07 left to make it 20-10.
In fitting fashion, Gatewood checked back in at quarterback and completed a first down to Josh Ali, but he was stripped of the football to put the nail in the coffin.
3rd Quarter
Mizzou began the half with a 21 play, 9:35 minute drive before being stopped on 4th and short for a turnover on downs.
Wilson checked back into the game but went three-and-out on Kentucky's only offensive drive of the quarter.
The Tigers added another touchdown to its lead just before the end of the quarter.
Kentucky 3, Mizzou 17 after 3Q
2nd Quarter
The Tigers were the first to get some momentum offensively, going 13 plays for 66 yards and a touchdown to break the scoreless tie.
Coach Stoops decided to make a change at quarterback in the second quarter, pulling Terry Wilson in favor of Joey Gatewood. Wilson was 2-6 for 9 yards in the opening quarter.
With Gatewood in, the Cats went 43 yards in 7 plays setting up Matt Ruffolo for a 50-yard field goal to put Kentucky on the board.
Mizzou was able to tack on a field goal as time expired in the opening half.
The Tigers outgained the Wildcats 219-65 in the first 30 minutes of play. UK had just 9 yards passing and 56 yards rushing and was 1-6 on third downs.
Kentucky 3, Mizzou 10 at halftime
1st Quarter
I'll save you the pain and suffering and just say that was possibly the most boring quarter of all-time. There were five possessions that led to five punts between both teams.
Kentucky 0, Mizzou 0 after 1Q
