Extremely Sad Kentucky Fan Sums Up Disappointing Season After Kicker Misses Field Goal By A Country Mile On Bad Snap
Kentucky football's season has been a disappointment, to say the least. Although injuries to quarterback Will Levis have hindered some success, the Wildcats were ranked No. 20 in the preseason AP Poll and fell to 6-5 with a loss to the nation's No. 1 team on Saturday.
Georgia went into Lexington and let Kentucky hang around, but pulled away to win 16-6.
In the loss, Wildcats kicker Matt Ruffolo committed one of the more egregious misses of the year. He didn't come anywhere near the uprights, but it wasn't necessarily his fault.
Either way, the miss and the proceeding fan reaction summed up the entire Kentucky experience in 2022.
Late in the fourth quarter, the home team lined up for a 38-yard attempt that would have cut their lead to seven. It was lined up just inside the right hashmark and should have been a pretty simple make.
Instead, the ball was snapped and it was anything but easy.
Kentucky missed the field goal after breaking the No. 1 rule.
Ruffolo took his approach, swung through the ball, and sent it sailing wide to the left. He missed by a country mile.
Here is how it looked in real-time:
Upon further review, the blame should fall on the long snapper, not the kicker, nor the holder.
The snap was low and skimmed off of the turf. It could have gone much worse, but holder Chance Poore did a great job to recover the bouncing ball and got it placed upright for the kick.
However, because he was rushed in his hold, the laces were turned inward. Ruffolo's foot hit directly on the laces, which caused the ugly miss.
As soon as the kick soared left of the uprights, the CBS broadcast cut to the stands. There, an embarrassed, disheartened Wildcats fan buried his head in his hands.
That sequence and that image of the semi-surrender cobra epitomizes Kentucky's year. It has been overwhelmingly ugly and hard to watch.