Mailbag: Answering your questions after Kentucky football’s season-opening win

If you were already in the camp of Kentucky football fans convinced the Mark Stoops tenure has reached an impasse, the Wildcats’ performance in the season-opening win against Toledo was unlikely to have changed your opinion.

The defense looked strong, but Kentucky’s offense looked much like it did throughout the 2024 struggles despite a roster overhaul.

If you were in the camp that wants to be optimistic about the chances of a quick bounceback from last season’s disaster, there were at least a few developments to keep you encouraged.

The Herald-Leader solicited questions from fans after the Toledo win to dig deeper into any lingering questions. As evidenced by the questions below, there is no shortage of uncertainty and worry remaining.

Tony Smith on X: I’m a big UK fan, and I think this is going to be the longest football season Kentucky has had in a very long time. I predicted 8-4 this season and made fun of the ones who said 3-9 and 4-8, but after watching today I’m saying 3-9. Sorry Kentucky, but long season.

Well, maybe there are a few fans who were convinced to change their outlook on the season by one performance. Certainly if you were as optimistic as Tony was before yesterday, it would be understandable to be discouraged by the offense failing to mount a credible passing attack against a Mid-American Conference foe. If Kentucky can only throw for 85 yards against Toledo, what will happen against SEC competition? UK certainly did not look like an eight-win team Saturday.

But I will caution from reading too much into a lackluster season opener. In 2016, Kentucky lost its opener to Southern Miss and still went on to win seven games. The 2017 Wildcats won seven games after squeaking by Southern Miss 24-17 in the opener. In 2018, Kentucky led Central Michigan but just one point at halftime in what ended up a 35-20 win, then went on to win 10 games for the first time since 1977.

@RinoTrollCat on X: If Stoops tries hard enough, is it possible to finish dead last in P4 passing yards this season?

After week one, Kentucky ranks 129th of 134 teams in passing yards per game, but there are actually two Power Four conference programs that had worse passing games in their openers: Cincinnati (69 yards) and Iowa (48 yards). Kentucky ranked 112th nationally in passing yards per game (184.8) last season. That number was better than seven Power Four teams.

Trent Harris on X: Was Toledo’s secondary good? Or did Calzada struggle? Or is it on the WR corps?

All three? It is worth noting that Toledo’s secondary was viewed as one of its biggest strengths entering the game with most of the production from 2024 back, but Kentucky will certainly face tougher tests ahead in SEC play. Calzada had a couple of very impressive throws on the opening drive, but he was not nearly as good after J.J. Hester’s acrobatic catch was ruled out of bounds on replay. There’s no way to characterize his UK debut as anything but a disappointment.

The biggest concern for me after the opener though is the wide receivers, considering I had the most questions about that position entering the season. It was always unrealistic to expect Kentucky to be able to attract top level transfers at receiver after the 2024 offensive struggles, but there were reasons to hope coaches had found a few diamonds in the rough. However, none of the three transfer receivers UK played on Saturday (Hester, Kendrick Law and Troy Stellato) recorded a catch. That group needs to be a factor, but the best hope might be development from sophomore Hardley Gilmore.

It will be interesting to see if UK’s freshman receivers can work their way into the rotation. The most hyped of that group, DJ Miller, was not in uniform Saturday after being slowed by an injury in camp. Montavin Quisenberry and Cameron Miller were also listed on the depth chart but did not play.

@ukjosh25 on X: What’s the plan? Seems like nothing’s changed over the years.

I can’t argue with this criticism. The opener definitely felt like a continuation of the last three years. If you want to be optimistic, the performance of the defense, offensive line and running backs at least offers hope for an identity moving forward. I don’t see a scenario where this team is ever exciting offensively, but maybe it can at least be the type of ground-and-pound offense that has been successful in the Stoops era.

@gregmullins22 on X: After struggling to score against a MAC team, what’s the chance of not winning a league game?

That possibility certainly can’t be discounted. Vanderbilt was considered UK’s most likely SEC win entering the season despite defeating UK in two of the last three years, but the Commodores walloped Charleston Southern 45-3 in their opener. Ole Miss beat Georgia State 63-7. Auburn opened the season with a 38-24 win over Baylor. Much will change as the season progresses, but as of today, Kentucky looks like an underdog in each of its eight SEC games.

Brad Hoskins on X: Why do we throw prayers in the air when we are in FG range and can get sure points? And where is the creativity in play-calling? You watch Tennessee’s offense today vs. ours, and it’s night and day. (Bush) Hamdan needs to step it up. He should be embarrassed.

I assume Brad is referring to the two third-quarter drives where Kentucky stalled on Toledo’s side of the field. The second of those did end after Calzada attempted back-to-back deep passes on second-and-9 and third-and-9 from the Toledo 43-yard line. The first of those drives, which reached the Toledo 39-yard line, did not stall with incomplete deep passes, but the point about being close to field goal range is worth exploring.

UK has hyped redshirt freshman kicker Jacob Kauwe of having range up to 60 yards for more than a year, so theoretically he would have been an option for either of those drives. Stoops was asked about the decision to punt on both after the game.

“I know he has the leg for that,” Stoops said. “I don’t know what the percentage is on that. It’s not like we kick them 60 yards (in practice a lot). It might be one per day. I felt like field position was a big part of it. We had a lead, and field position was critical. When (the margin) was eight, yes, I would have kicked in any situation there. That was makeable to get it to a two-score game.”

The bottom line is Kentucky has to connect on some of those deep passes. If Calzada’s arm strength is really his best attribute, they have to get the ball downfield to keep defenses from stacking the box against the run game. The chemistry on those throws has to improve.

MooseCat on X: I don’t think the play-calling helped (Calzada) much. Very predictable. Run, run, pass is not going to work. Open it up and be less predictable.

Here’s the problem with critiquing play-calling. In back-to-back questions we have one fan who thinks Kentucky was too aggressive and one that thinks the offense was too conservative. Regardless of your perspective though, I do think it is fair to say the offensive play-calling lacked rhythm in the opener. Hamdan acknowledged as much after the game.

I was most surprised by the lack of targets for Law. At the kickoff luncheon in July, Hamdan predicted the offense would run through him in many situations. The Alabama transfer was slowed by an injury early in camp, but I still expected Hamdan to try to get him the ball in creative ways. Maybe they were holding some of that back for SEC play, but I think Law’s skill set is better suited for the jet sweeps and screens they tried with Barion Brown so often last season.

Stephen Parker on X: How much is Mark Stoops’ buyout and can we start a GoFundMe?

It did not even take a loss for the calls to fire Stoops to return. The buyout is around $38 million at the end of the season. Kentucky doesn’t have that kind of money available, so it would need to be one hell of a GoFundMe.

@carboy19883 on X: Who are suitable replacements for Stoops?

See above. Kentucky is not paying $38 million within 60 days to fire Stoops. So, unless he decides to walk away on his own or negotiate a smaller separation package, he will be the coach in 2026.

That being said, it would be silly to pretend the success of Jon Sumrall at Tulane is not having an effect on the way Stoops is being evaluated. Sumrall played at UK. He was an assistant coach and excellent recruiter on some of Stoops’ best teams. He looks destined for an SEC job in the near future. It is understandable that some Kentucky fans fear the program might be about to miss out on such a logical candidate for the job, but if Tulane makes the playoff, Sumrall is going to almost certainly have options at more successful programs than Kentucky regardless of what happens with Stoops this season.

Ed Helinski on X: What are you liking and disliking about this team so far?

For all the doom and gloom above, I do think there were some positives to take away from the opener. The defense was dominant for most of the afternoon. I had real doubts about UK’s pass rush entering the season, and while one game won’t completely silence those fears, it was an excellent start, especially from the transfer linemen and edge rusher Steven Soles.

The rushing stats are certainly boosted by Dante Dowdell’s 79-yard touchdown, but that is part of the philosophy. If Dowdell and Seth McGowan can consistently gain positive yards, eventually they’re going to break those big runs. Tight ends Josh Kattus and Willie Rodriguez also impressed (though Rodriguez’s fumble left a bad taste).

Of course, the passing attack has to improve. There is no scenario where Kentucky is competitive in SEC games without a better showing. The problem is there are real questions about whether the personnel is good enough to do that.

This story was originally published September 1, 2025 at 7:00 AM.

Jon Hale

Lexington Herald-Leader

(859) 414-6776

Jon Hale is the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He joined the Herald-Leader in 2022 but has covered UK athletics for more than 10 years. Hale was named the 2021 Kentucky Sportswriter of the Year. Support my work with a digital subscription