Kentucky began the 2014 season with an impressive 5-1 record, surpassing its win total from the last two years combined in just six games.

However, the Cats haven’t won a game since the midpoint of the season, and panic is beginning to set in throughout the Bluegrass during UK’s ongoing four-game losing streak.

What’s changed for the Wildcats in their last four games? Plenty. After all, teams don’t take such dramatic turns for the worse because of a minor flaw.

With that said, perhaps Kentucky’s greatest downfall during the recent skid has been its play on special teams, which are now among the worst in the SEC since the losing streak began on Oct. 18.

That loss on the 18th, a 41-3 rout at the hands of the LSU Tigers in Death Valley, was fueled by a 67-yard punt return touchdown by the Tigers’ Tre’Davious White in the first quarter of play.

To that point in the season, Kentucky had allowed fewer than 10 total yards on punt returns all year, an average of less than two yards per return. But White’s touchdown, during which he juked around or ran through nearly every UK special teamer on the field, marked the beginning of the end for the Wildcats’ special teams, and perhaps the team’s chances of reaching a bowl game this season.

Fast forward to present day, and Kentucky’s special teams have only gotten worse in nearly every area imaginable. The Cats are the worst in the conference in punt coverage, allowing 15.3 yards per return when no other team is allowing more than 11.2.

They rank in the bottom half of the conference in kickoff coverage and punt return average as well.

Place kicker Austin MacGinnis has missed more field goal attempts this season (6) than any other kicker in the SEC, and punter Landon Foster ranks in the bottom-third of the conference in yards per punt.

The special teams have been a mess, and Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops knows it. He’s been asked about his special teams every week since the losing streak began, and after Kentucky allowed Georgia’s Isaiah McKenzie to return both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the Bulldogs’ 63-31 win on UK’s Senior Day last week, his frustrations hit a whole new level.

Kentucky special teams coordinator Craig Naivar has been the source of many fans’ anger during the losing streak, but Stoops has been most frustrated by the lack of accountability his special teamers have shown in recent weeks. He spoke about that frustration during his weekly press conference on Monday.

The past couple weeks you’ve heard me talk about having the toughness and the attitude to do what you’re asked to do. I’ve got a certain player out there that did not do that (Stoops later confirmed he was talking about Kentucky special teams ace J.D. Harmon). That’s a choice. That’s aggravating. That’s something that probably bothers me as much as anything because you know what it comes down to. You got a special teams coach that I’m breathing down his neck, you got y’all (the media) breathing down his neck and my neck and everything else and everybody is accountable, we all are, starting with me and it goes right down to the players, and there were some plays there that I thought were not acceptable. It’s certain guys that I have rewarded with scholarships and done some things and put it out there to help him and he’s making a decision not to help us by doing his own thing.

Harmon has actually been one of Kentucky’s best special teams players this season. He was suspended for the first half of the LSU game due to a vicious hit he delivered the week before, and many cited his absence as the reason White was able to break his long punt return touchdown.

However, Stoops seemed to indicate Harmon went rogue at times during the most recent loss to Georgia, allowing the Bulldogs’ special teams to have a banner day against the Wildcats.

This is indicative of a greater problem on Kentucky’s special teams — they’re trying too hard to force the issue as their struggles mount. Every player wants to be the guy to make a big hit or break a long return, expecting one big play can cure all ills. It can’t, and as a result the players have begun to play outside Kentucky’s special teams schemes.

That never ends well, and the Georgia game is proof. Special teams are predicated on 11 guys filling specific roles, and it only works if all 11 guys are executing their roles at the same time. Harmon went outside his role to try and make a big play, and it actually allowed Georgia to make two big plays in a rout of the Cats.

Harmon isn’t the only Kentucky special teamer to fall victim to the “I can fix this myself” mentality. He’s just the one Stoops cited this week.

Another example of Kentucky’s inability to remain disciplined on special teams can be found at the end of its loss to Mississippi State three weeks ago. The Cats trailed the Bulldogs by just seven points in the final three minutes of play, and lined up for an onside kick to try and regain possession for a chance to force overtime.

The Wildcats were unable to fall on the onside kick, which is not the end of the world considering onside kicks are unsuccessful more often than not. But allowing Mississippi State to return the onside kick for a touchdown cost Kentucky any chance at a miraculous game-tying touchdown.

A team returning an onside kick for a touchdown almost never happens, yet Kentucky let it happen with the game on the line. The Wildcats’ special teamers all went out of their way to try and be the hero to recover the kick, and when no one did Mississippi State’s Christian Holmes had an easy lane to the end zone to put the game on ice.

Had Kentucky stayed disciplined on special teams, it might have had a chance to win the game. Even if Mississippi State still recovered the kick, it wouldn’t have returned it for a touchdown. That would have left open the possibility of an MSU fumble or even a punt in the final seconds that UK could have taken to the house.

Those are unlikely scenarios, sure, but they’re not impossible. However, after Holmes’ touchdown, Kentucky’s fate was officially sealed. Unlikely is always better than impossible, but the Cats’ lack of discipline once again cost them a chance at a victory.

That lack of discipline and accountability on UK’s special teams has cost it dearly time and time again in the second half of the season. It’s not the lone reason for Kentucky’s recent struggles, but it’s also no coincidence the season took a turn for the worse the same week the special teams did.

Coaching is certainly to blame, but so are the players themselves. Naivar has put his players in situations to succeed, but the players have not always followed through on his schemes. That’s on Naivar for not commanding his players better, but also on the players for not responding to their coach.

Ultimately, the players and coaches suffer equally. The team is free falling out of bowl contention, and the fan base is beginning to turn its attention to a highly anticipated basketball season in the Bluegrass.

The special teams don’t have to be the best in the SEC for Kentucky to succeed, they just have to not be the worst. All that will take is discipline and accountability. For a team as young and inexperienced as Kentucky’s that’s easier said than done.

But with two games remaining this season — both on the road against UK’s two biggest rivals in Tennessee and Louisville — there’s still a chance the special teams can turn it around. All it’ll take is a little discipline.