After making QB switch vs. Auburn, Kentucky not ready to name a starter for Tennessee game
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Preview: Kentucky at No. 7 Tennessee
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Tennessee football game at Knoxville.
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With Mark Stoops in Youngstown, Ohio, for his mother’s funeral Monday, there were few answers to be had about Kentucky football’s plan at quarterback for Saturday’s game against Tennessee or the rest of the season.
“We’re evaluating everything today,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, who was filling in for Stoops at his normal Monday news conference, said when asked who would start against Tennessee. “We’re getting back with those guys, and want to get face to face with them again.”
Brock Vandagriff has started every game this season but was benched at halftime against Auburn after completing 9 of 17 passes for 120 yards and one interception. He also took two sacks on third downs where he held onto the ball too long.
Backup Gavin Wimsatt fared no better though, completing 3 of 10 passes for 34 yards while gaining 16 yards on 10 carries.
“It’s never on one person,” Stoops said after the 24-10 loss. “If it is Gavin or if it’s Brock, whoever it is, they can only do so much. It is a team effort. I know everybody likes to concentrate on the quarterback position, and I know it’s a story.
“Bottom line is we are not playing winning football on the offensive side. And I would rather that be the headline than on any one person.”
Hamdan has used Wimsatt as a “wildcat quarterback” throughout the season, but he had rarely been on the field for multiple snaps in a row before the Auburn game. With the offense struggling for weeks, Hamdan and Stoops planned to give Wimsatt the entire third series against Auburn but deviated from that plan after the Vandagriff-led offense scored points on each of the first two drives. Instead, they made the switch for the entire second half.
“It was something we were going to do in the game,” Hamdan said of playing both quarterbacks. “We knew we were going to do that, so both quarterbacks were aware of it. And we’ll address that moving forward.”
On the season, Vandagriff has completed 57.1% of his passes for 1,236 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions.
While Vandagriff has certainly failed to live up to his hype as a coveted Georgia transfer and former five-star high school recruit, evaluating his performance has been complicated by struggles around him.
UK ranks 103rd nationally in sacks allowed, and dropped passes have remained an issue in key moments. Both of Vandagriff’s interceptions in the loss at Florida first bounced off the hands of a UK receiver.
“Brock is extremely steady,” Hamdan said. “He is never too high, never too low. He’s a guy that understands what it takes to win in this conference. I think the biggest thing with him is just consistency. I think in back to back games, he’s made some big plays. We got to continue to build with him and continue to (improve) third down execution, things of that nature, to continue that consistency and get better.”
Since Wimsatt has completed just 46.3% of his passes in 31 college games at Rutgers and Kentucky, giving him an significant share of the quarterback snaps would seemingly be an admission that the only hope to extend UK’s eight-year bowl streak would be to go to a game plan heavy on quarterback run and read-option carries. But with Kentucky now needing an upset of either No. 7 Tennessee or No. 6 Texas on the road — even if it beats Murray State and Louisville at home — to extend the bowl streak, a return to postseason play looks unlikely regardless of the quarterback.
Much-hyped freshman Cutter Boley, who threw a pick six on his first pass attempt in his debut off the bench late in the Florida loss, can appear in three more regular-season games without losing his redshirt. Since he has taken few first- or second-team reps in practice during the regular season, that option appears unlikely for at least one more week. After facing Tennessee, UK will have a bye week to give Boley an extended look in practice before returning to action against FCS Murray State if coaches want to explore that option.
So, which quarterback gives Kentucky the best chance to pull off the unlikely upset in Knoxville?
One of Vandagriff’s best performances of the season came when Kentucky upset then No. 6-ranked Ole Miss in Oxford in September, but the offense failed to sustain that momentum after its first bye week.
While Tennessee has the reputation of an elite offense thanks to coach Josh Huepel’s high-octane attack, the Volunteers have actually been held to 25 points or less in four straight games. It’s a defense that ranks third nationally in yards (259) and points (11.6) allowed per game that has carried the Volunteers this season.
No quarterback has rushed for more than 22 yards in an SEC game against Tennessee this season, so it seems like a bad matchup for Wimsatt’s skill set, but the Volunteers rank fifth nationally in tackles for loss per game (11.6). If Vandagriff starts and continues to hold onto the ball too long in obvious passing situations, the game could turn ugly quickly.
The quarterback decision might depend in part on UK’s health situation at running back. Starter Demie Sumo-Karngbaye was unavailable against Auburn, as was Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum, who had just returned from a preseason injury the week before at Florida. UK coaches clearly did not trust redshirt freshman Jamarion Wilcox or freshman Jason Patterson to carry the rushing load, leading to more Wimsatt carries even before he took over the offense in the second half. If Sumo-Karngbaye and Trayanum are out again, Hamdan will have to determine the best strategy for staying ahead of the chains and preventing a struggling offensive line from having to protect in obvious passing situations too often.
Even if Stoops and Hamdan have already decided who will start at quarterback, there is little value in them tipping Tennessee off to the plan any earlier than necessary.
While Stoops wanted to avoid a quarterback controversy dominating headlines after the Auburn loss, the staff appears to be embracing the uncertainty at least publicly this week.
“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. “That’s the offensive line movement and the different guys we’ve played there, the running back situation, finding out who can create explosives.
“It always is going to fall on me, and I understand that in every way. We’re working to actively see who the best rotations are, what we can get done to create more consistency, to create more explosive plays, and that’s what it’s going to come down to.”
Next game
Kentucky at No. 7 Tennessee
When: Saturday, 7:45 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Records: Kentucky 3-5 (1-5 SEC), Tennessee 6-1 (3-1 SEC)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: Tennessee leads 84-26-9
Last meeting: Tennessee won 33-27 on Oct. 28, 2023, in Lexington
This story was originally published October 28, 2024 at 2:42 PM.
