Takeaways from Kentucky's 41-14 loss to Louisville to end the season

The Wildcat's couldn't get much going against the Cardinals.

Nov 30, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops walks onto the field before the game against the Louisville Cardinals at Kroger Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

All season long, the big question entering each game always delt with the offense. How would they perform and would they do it consistently? Well, they didn't do good with either of those, and on Saturday, not even the defense was at their best game. Kentucky got manhandled all game against Louisville. In a rivalry game especially, that's surely not a good thing to see. The Wildcats were just pummled, losing to Louisville 41-14

Nothing seemed to go Kentucky's way on either side of the ball, and Louisville took full advantage of that. Let's take a look at some major takeaways now that Kentucky's season is over at a record of 4-8 overall, ending with an embarrassing blowout loss to in-state rival Louisville.

1. Kentucky gets dominated on both sides of the ball.

All day long, Kentucky couldn't get anything to go their way. Offensively, Cutter Boley struggled, throwing two interceptions. But then he got hurt due to a targeting to the head, and Gavin Wimsatt came in. Other than his first drive, Wimsatt couldn't find much success, although there were a few bright spots. Defensively, Kentucky was just getting dominated, especially against Louisville's run game. The Wildcats allowed 486 total yards of offense for Louisville, 358 of that on the ground. They torched Kentucky on the ground all game. On offense, Kentucky committed 5 turnovers, their most since 2011.

2. What does this loss mean for the future?

This blowout loss was really a sentiment of how the entire season has gone. Inconsistent offense, offensive line and quarterback struggles, and just no real success moving the ball, which has been like pulling teeth for this Kentucky offense. Defense, which has been the glue that has kept this team from having an all-systems failure of a season more so than it seemed, wasn't themselves on Saturday against Louisville, getting completely outplayed. Now, major questions loom into the offseason regarding the outlook of the program that is in need of some important changes.

Now, Kentucky enters a very important offseason after an extremely dissapointing 4-8 record on the year and a blowout home loss to your rival to finish it off. After this season, and the last few, Mark Stoops will need to make some big changes around him if he wants Kentucky to stay afloat in this day and age in college football.