Kentucky’s Wildcat took some flak on the SEC Network at the end of the first half as the team took a 35-0 lead against Tennessee-Martin, an FCS school.

The broadcast featured a shot of the Wildcat attempting some post-touchdown pushups. With the camera level with the wooden plank, hoisted in the air by UK cheerleaders, the pushups devolved into little more than head dips, followed by the Wildcat dropping to his knees, then grabbing his head.

To be fair, it is the opener, and the Wildcat was up to 105 pushups. The temperature in Lexington, Ky., sat at 89 degrees, but the mascot has to be steamy inside that costume. Then again, with kickoff at noon and barely 100 pushups to complete in about 90 minutes, it’s hard to cut Wildcat that much slack.

The broadcasters hit him (her?) pretty hard.

“Might need to recruit a new mascot after today. I don’t know if he’s had to do a lot of that in the past couple years,” color analyst Matt Stinchcomb said.

“The cheerleaders have won 22 national championships in cheerleading, but that’s not national championship form, is it?,” Tom Hart said.

“I’m less than pleased with the flexion and extension with these pushups, ultimately collapsing there at the end,” Stinchcomb responded.

If that’s the worst thing Kentucky does Saturday, it’s a great start to the season and a good problem to have.