Brock Vandagriff (Vicky Graff Photo)
On his weekly radio show Monday night Kentucky coach Mark Stoops admitted that the fourth-and-eight bomb to Barion Brown that led to a 20-17 win Saturday was really not designed to go to Brown.
Instead, quarterback Brock Vandagriff saw Brown had one-on-one coverage and elected to give him a chance to make a huge play and Brown did with a 63-yard gain thanks in large part to a perfect throw by Vandagriff.
“That’s how good and well-trained Brock is, our offense, our team. That was not the number one go-to there. That wasn’t like — it wasn’t just called for a go to him,” Stoops said on the radio show. “It happened that way, with getting press coverage, with getting aggressive coverage, he beat him. It was open and it took some guts for Brock to throw that and Barion went and made a play.”
Vandagriff had his best game going 18-for-28 passing for 243 yards and one touchdown to Dane Key. He scrambled 12 times for 48 yards and picked up five first downs. He was hesitant a time or two that led to sacks but he protected the football.
“He’s just got a lot of guts. People ask me a lot, like, what am I going to say to him before his first road game and in the SEC? And I’m like, I’m not gonna say anything to him. Trust your training. Go play ball,” Stoops said.
“He’s a very even-keeled young man. He doesn’t get too high, he doesn’t get too low. We talked about it, I think last week, when he was getting rattled or getting pressured, he doesn’t get frustrated, doesn’t get mad at the [offensive line], doesn’t slam his helmet,” Stoops said.
“He just goes on to the next play and I love that about him. And he’s a great young man, he’s a competitor, and he’s put us in a position to win. “
Vandagriff was sacked five times but Stoops like the progression Vandagriff has made with his decision making in the pocket.
“I think his decision-making on when to pull it down, when to run is getting much better,” Stoops said. “I thought in the pocket, he didn’t hold it too long this week, you know what I mean? We didn’t want anymore — we couldn’t turn it over against a team like that, you know? So, he played very good.”
Stoops was just thankful Kentucky got some needed breaks at the right time to leave Ole Miss with the win.
“I think most people can see that my blood pressure is generally a little high during some of those games. The end of that one definitely was a lot,” Stoops said. “We go through these games a lot and it comes down to a couple of plays.
“Then this week, lo and behold, the ball bounced our way once or twice — I’ll be the first to admit that. Sooner or later, that ball will bounce our way and get a break here or there.”
One Response
Brock has gotten noticeably better every game. When we run a play action it almost works every time like its designed to do when you run the ball alot. We need to add a couple more play actions and a couple more screens. By the end of the year Brock will be one of the better quarterbacks in the SEC. If And when he comes back next year he will be lights out. Key is making the NFL take a good look at him. If he has a big game against Vanderbilt which I think he will, you will start seeing him on the draft boards. With his size and sure hands and great route running he could be a second round pick in this years draft. I think Brown comes back which her needs too. He needs to figure put why he drops so many passes. I’m not gonna lie when Brock threw that pass to Brown on 4th and 7 I said it was over when the ball was released because I seen it wad too Brown but miraculously her caught it and I went bananas. Brown would be a great receiver if he didn’t drop the ball so much and he didn’t slip and fall on about every play. I know people at Kroger field that call him fall down brown. We need another receiver to step up. I like Farrier he’s made some difficult catches. They should try to get him involved more. He might have the best hands on the team. Brown could be the man if he could just hold on to the ball. We shall see.