Brock Vandagriff may not start at quarterback Saturday in Knoxville. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Mark Stoops didn’t want the benching of starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff in the second half of last week’s loss to Auburn to become the main storyline from the game — but it was after the UK offense scored 10 points on its first two series and then did not score again.
Now the quarterback controversy is going to be the main storyline going into Saturday night’s game at Tennessee where the Cats are a solid underdog because of its inept offense all season and porous defense the last two weeks.
Head coach Mark Stoops was not at Monday’s press conference because he was attending his mother’s funeral in Ohio. Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan would not commit to who the starting quarterback would be in Knoxville.
“We’re evaluating everything today. We’re getting back with those guys and want to get face-to-face with them again,” Hamdan said. “I know we’ve addressed it. It was something (playing both quarterbacks) we were going to do in the game.
“We knew we were going to do that, so both quarterbacks were aware of it, and we’ll address that moving forward.”
That’s not a ringing endorsement for Vandagriff who started the first eight games after transferring from Georgia. He has completed 57.1 percent of his passes for 1,236 yards and six touchdowns with five interceptions and ran for 273 yards.
Vandagriff was 4-for-7 for 72 yards in UK’s first two drives against Auburn when the Cats took the 10-0 lead. Hamdan and Stoops indicated the plan was to use Wimsatt, a Rutgers transfer, for the third series but that changed because of UK’s fast start.
When Kentucky didn’t score in the second quarter, Stoops went to Wimsatt in the second half. He hit on just three of 10 passes for 34 yards with an interception at the goal line on his last throw. He ran for 24 yards.
“The decision to play (Wimsatt) last week was, as you guys know, to give him a chance at being in there the whole time and have the opportunity to have the whole playbook,” Hamdan said.
The UK offensive coordinator said Vandagriff handled not playing “fantastic” and he did look engaged along the sideline the entire second half.
“The guy is everything you want. Everybody knows that about him. It was important for me to have that discussion with him before the game, so it wasn’t a surprise and ultimately, it was, ‘Whatever we got to do to win the game, I’m all in.’ There’s nobody more that exemplifies what this team is about than that guy,” Hamdan said Monday.
“I very much know going through similar situations in my college career, how hard that is. He’s going to come back in the building, ready to get back to work and ready to do whatever it takes to go beat Tennessee.”
Wimsatt had 19 career starts at Rutgers before transferring to UK after he lost the No. 1 job at Rutgers in spring practice. He completed 49 percent of his passes at Rutgers and went 7-12 in his starts. Vandagriff’s best game this year was in the upset win at Ole Miss when he threw for 243 yards and one touchdown.
“We know exactly where we’re at right now, and we’re not going to just sit there and do the same thing over and over again and expect different results,” Hamdan said.
The offensive coordinator said the starter on Saturday would be based both on how the two quarterbacks have played as well as the problems Tennessee poses.
“I think we are taking into account the whole thing if you will. How they’ve looked all year and how we have had them. Again, in some ways, last week, based off of our running back situation, impacted that a little bit. This week will be staying focused on Tennessee and what we have to do to win this game,” Hamdan said.
He acknowledged play calling has to change some based on what Vandagriff and Wimsatt each do best.
“We had been putting him (Wimsatt) in there to supplement the running backs, to get some quarterback run going, trying to sneak in a throw here or there to keep the defense honest. We got the opportunity last week to see him go out there and get the whole playbook and being able to go from there,” Hamden said.
Wimsatt is most effective as a runner and Hamdan basically had him making deep throws that were unsuccessful against Auburn.
“We’re extremely fortunate to have him. I think it’s a tough question, from the standpoint anytime you’re a backup or the number two guy, the limited reps you are taking week in and week out, to go in there in that situation,” Hamdan said about Wimsatt. “But as you know, you have to be ready when your number is called. We think he did some good things, and we’re just continuing to evaluate that.”
However, one given is that Vandagriff did lead UK to its only SEC win on the road at Ole Miss where Kentucky was a 17-point underdog.
“Brock is extremely steady. He’s never too high, never too low, he’s a guy that understands what it takes to win in this conference,” Hamdan said. “I think the biggest thing with him is consistency. I think in back-to-back games he’s made some plays; we’ve got to continue to build with him and continue our third down execution and things of that nature and continue that consistency and get better.”
9 Responses
BUSH HAMDAN ISN’T SURE
SUMS IT ALL UP !!!
Bench Stoops !!!
Bench the OC !!!
The QB is just an escape goat for the 2 biggest failures!
If the coaching staff does not know to keep a team focused and interested after opening the game with a 10-0 lead after just 2 series, the problem is the coaching staff.
It doesn’t matter who starts at quarterback there is no way we win this game. Tennessee will probably give us our worst beating. They are a well coached team. They do no have self inflicted problems on almost every play. Our offense might be the worst offense in all of college football. There is no way anyone can have a offense this bad. From the play calling to the players it just absolutely sucks.
It is vintage UK regarding the decades of losing 7-45 to TN and such embarrassing games.
The offense problems start with coaches being clueless on how to instill focus & even interest into the players.
The offense has 2 versions:
•• blowout of cupcakes
•• 10-0 jump start vs Auburn
•• sustained effort vs UGA
•• 20 points vs Ole Miss
The other version of collapse:
•• SC
•• Vandy
•• Auburn scored 31 (including the 7 they skipped) unanswered points
If it’s not “on the coaches” then why pay to have them
I agree 100%. You could pay someone 2 million a year and get the same results. I think Spurrier said it best Stoops has done a good job up to this point but he hasn’t done great. Really take this year away and he’s done good here. 2 10 win seasons in the last 6 years. Is good for Kentucky football but not great. The last 3 years this team has gotten progressively worse. Levis second year is when the line started playing horrible. Its now been 3 years in a row of the same problems. A bad Secondary a bad O line below average quarterback play which could be blamed on the line but even when they get time there still not world beaters. Levis definitely the best out of the 3 transfers. Brock would be decent if we had a good offensive line. Also the play calling doesn’t help. Its just bad all around. One problem that leads to another problem that leads to another problem.
I see Stoops sticking his fingers into the soup here. Go to a a run first offense yielding long clock eating drives. Ie, keep the other team off the field. Problem is, the Cats do not have a O line that can get enough initial push to get it done. We’re in deep voodoo folks.
If Hamdan truly isn’t sure, that speaks volumes of is inability to assess players and situations. Wimsatt is probably a hardworking kid, but he is in no way a Power 5 starting QB. That was proven at Rutgers and his passing has not improved.
For me, the decision is between BVG and Cutter Boley. I would hate to put Boley in the Tennessee game because of how good they are and how horrible our OL is. That would not be a true test. If the coaches didn’t know before the game that Wimsatt could not complete deep downfield passes, my question is Why Not?? That really should have been Boley out there.
Having said that, I still have not given up on BVG. I think he can be a very, very good QB in the SEC. His last year at Georgia he gave Beck a run for his money on the starting QB spot and that should tell you a lot on how good he can be with a decent OL and receivers that can get open. UK has neither.
UK’s problems are far from the QB position. Yes, BVG looks like a deer in the headlights. He is gun shy, now. Tired of getting hit so much, taking so many sacks, unnecessary penalties, etc. I also think part of his problem is that he is trying to do to much. Trying to get it all back on 1 play. Getting gun shy happens to QB’s of any age when you are running for your life on every play. When your OL can’t block, your receivers can’t get open, and your tight ends aren’t looking for passes as an outlet, your QB is going to be in for a long, long day.
The thing that kills me the most is teams that aren’t good passing teams always have the tight ends to fall back on like a safety net. We don’t utilize our tight ends because our offensive lineman can’t block with the 5 down lineman that they have. They need 2 extra people to help block and what makes it even worse is they still get into the backfield with ease. There is no way our offense was moving the ball against our defense in practice and if so its because Brock had the red jersey on so of course he was getting the passes off. Idk. I know BVG would be better with a better o line and at least one more receiver besides Key. You have to have at least 2 or 3 options and it seems like we have just 1.
Just makes you want to throw up your hands.
Agree with nearly every comment in this entire thread.
I’m a Brock fan and sincerely believe he would be dynamic at an SEC program with decent coaches & an OL coach who knew how to fine tune the players to protect for passing.
Obviously Stoops knows ZERO about offense and if he would not have meddled with every OC hired, several of them could have done a very good job. Does he EVER discuss his hires with anyone to get opinions? If so, he needs to talk with someone different!
Coach Pope is bringing enthusiasm back into UK BB and the wins will roll up this season. So, FB can take a couple years off and maybe wash cars to help pay for the ridiculous money thrown away by the AD.
Comments are closed.