Impressive TD catch at Tennessee adds to confusion about Ja’Mori Maclin’s Kentucky role
Somewhat lost in Kentucky’s 28-18 loss at Tennessee on Saturday will be perhaps the most improbable play of the Wildcats’ frustrating 2024 season.
With quarterback Brock Vandagriff (head) and wide receiver Barion Brown (rib) both sidelined by injuries, an already ineffective Wildcats offense looked left for dead trailing 21-10 as the fourth quarter began.
Backup quarterback Gavin Wimsatt had completed just three passes all season in a game where the outcome was still in doubt despite playing extensively as a wildcat quarterback. Wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin had essentially disappeared from UK’s offensive game plan despite arriving on campus as one of the more hyped members of the 2024 transfer class.
But on the fourth play of the fourth quarter, Wimsatt uncorked a perfect throw to a streaking Maclin down the sideline. With a Florida defender hanging on one arm, Maclin made a one-handed grab in stride as he ran into the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown.
Kentucky was unable to complete the comeback, but what was perhaps the most impressive throw-and-catch for the team this season at least briefly gave the Wildcats hope.
And led to obvious questions about why exactly Maclin had not been used more often.
“The season hasn’t been as good as I wanted it to be, but at the end of the day, I just continue to work hard at practice and my teammates trusting me, and when the time comes, I just got to make those plays like I did today,” Maclin said.
Maclin was one of just 25 players in the country to record at least 1,000 receiving yards last season while starring for North Texas. He signed with Kentucky as a projected transfer starter when Liam Coen was still offensive coordinator, but looked to be better positioned than almost anyone on the roster when Mark Stoops hired Bush Hamdan as Coen’s replacement considering he had already played for Hamdan at Missouri earlier in his career.
The 5-foot-11, 190-pound receiver was a consistent standout in open practices early in preseason camp and looked like he might quickly emerge as Vandagriff’s favorite target with two catches for 66 yards in the lightning-shortened season-opening win over Southern Miss. Maclin tallied one catch in the Week 2 loss to South Carolina and two receptions in the near miss against No. 1 Georgia in Week 3.
Then his targets all but vanished.
Entering the Tennessee game, Maclin had just one catch for 2 yards in UK’s previous five games. While he technically remained a starter at the slot receiver position, the need for Hamdan to frequently use multiple tight ends as blockers had limited the number of formations with three wide receivers on the field.
“I think it’s obviously a hard situation,” Hamdan said in October when asked about Maclin’s diminished role. “I think you look at it and you’re always evaluating that room, and it’s who’s been playing the most consistent ball. And we think, not just in the receiver room, but on the offense as a whole, Dane Key’s probably been as consistent an offensive player we’ve had. It then goes to the ability of when Barion Brown touches the ball, he’s got a chance to make those big plays.
“So, there’s a lot of respect for Ja’Mori’s game in those situations, but the reality of it, as you know, is there ends up being some type of a pecking order. And especially when we’re not necessarily built to just go out there and throw it 40-50 times a game, that’s really what it’s come down to.”
At times this season Key has looked like the only receiver Vandagriff trusted, leading Kentucky’s quarterback to zero in on him even when he was not open. While Brown had not earned that same trust level, like the offensive coordinators before him, Hamdan continued to try to design plays designed to get the fastest player on the roster the ball in space.
But even before Brown was sidelined against Tennessee, there appeared to be a concentrated effort to spread the ball around more. Nine different Wildcats caught passes in the game.
Perhaps if Brown had been available Maclin would not even have been on the field for the fourth quarter touchdown, but he certainly made the most of the opportunity. After the touchdown, Maclin made another impressive grab to convert the two-point conversion that pulled Kentucky within three points.
“When you have an opportunity to throw him a competitive ball, he has an opportunity to come down with it a lot,” Stoops said. “That’s one of his strengths. And we do have to try to get him in a position where, just like tonight, when he got in a one-on-one with a 50-50 ball came down with two in a row there. That was good to see.
“I think we’d all like to see more opportunities follow him that way. But, a lot of times like, it’s not just a simple (thing). I mean, people are mixing (defenses) up. They’re not just pressing us and giving him a chance at those. The inside fade just hasn’t presented itself as much for one way or another.”
Kentucky has not been mathematically eliminated from bowl contention, but the Wildcats must run the table against Murray State, No. 5 Texas and No. 25 Louisville to play in a bowl for the ninth consecutive season. While few outside UK’s locker room will predict Kentucky to make that run, there is at least opportunity for Maclin to build on his Tennessee touchdown, especially if Brown misses any more game time.
Maclin has another season of eligibility remaining, but unsurprisingly given his lack of touches thus far, Maclin acknowledged he will not decide about whether he will return to UK until after the season.
“You just got to keep working when things ain’t going your way,” Maclin said. “Because I was a 1,000-yard receiver and a Biletnikoff Award watch list guy and end up being pretty much nothing this season.
“So, it’s just all about perspective. Just continue to keep your head down and just work. And when opportunity comes, you just got to make it.”
Next game
Murray State at Kentucky
When: Saturday, Nov. 16, 1:30 p.m.
TV: SEC Network+
Records: Murray State 1-8 (0-6 MVC); Kentucky 3-6 (1-6 SEC)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: Kentucky leads 2-0
Last meeting: Kentucky won 48-10 on Sept. 15, 2018, in Lexington