Rich Scangarello doesn’t talk like a guy expecting to be one-and-done at UK
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Game day: No. 1 Georgia 16, Kentucky 6
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s Kentucky-Georgia football game at Kroger Field in Lexington.
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If you are among the Kentucky football fans who expected far more from the 2022 Wildcats offensive attack than you’ve seen, Rich Scangarello has a message for you:
He is with you.
“No one is more disappointed in the expectations we had and how this season has gone than me,” the UK offensive coordinator said not long after the Wildcats’ loss to Georgia. “I feel terrible. I want to score points. I came here to help (Mark Stoops) do something special.”
Kentucky (6-5, 3-5 SEC) fell 16-6 to Kirby Smart’s No. 1 Bulldogs (11-0, 8-0 SEC) on Saturday before an announced crowd of 61,022 at a chilly Kroger Field. The loss featured a Wildcats offensive performance that was, in large part, a microcosm of this entire frustrating UK football season. There were some impressive moments that were, ultimately, canceled out by too many self-sabotaging mistakes.
Among the good things done, the Cats drove the ball into Georgia territory on almost half of their possessions (4 of 9). UK’s one scoring drive was a nine-play, 99-yard gem.
Quarterback Will Levis, whose season has been greatly impacted by a toe malady suffered at Mississippi, had more bounce in his step Saturday than he’s had since he was injured in the fifth game of the year.
“I was joking, ‘This is the healthiest I’ve felt after a game all season — against the best defense in the country,’” Levis said.
Against, arguably, the most-talented defensive secondary in college football, Kentucky true freshman wide receiver Barion Brown played like a star. The Nashville product caught 10 passes for a robust 145 yards and a touchdown.
“Love him,” Scangarello said of Brown. “He’s a stud.”
However, if you are a glass-half-empty type, it would not be hard to focus on the same old, maddening bugaboos in Kentucky’s offensive showing.
UK continued its season-long trend of not taking advantage of scoring opportunities. Those four drives into Georgia territory — three of which reached the red zone — yielded one TD.
Levis tossed another red-zone interception. It was the sixth turnover — four picks, two lost fumbles — that the Cats QB has committed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line this season.
For the third time in the past four games, Kentucky finished under 300 yards of total offense (295). For the second time in four games, UK was held to six points.
At a time when speculation has ramped up over Scangarello’s job security at UK, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach did not talk like a guy who expects to be — or has been told he will be — one-and-done in Lexington.
Pointing out that four of UK’s primary pass catchers — wideouts Brown and Dane Key and tight ends Jordan Dingle (redshirt) and Josh Kattus — are freshmen, Scangarello said, “I couldn’t be more excited for the future. That’s 18- and 19-year-olds who are getting a ton of experience. Their best days are ahead of them — and that excites me.”
Should Stoops retain Scangarello for 2023? It’s not an easy call.
Scangarello is Kentucky’s third OC in the past three seasons. Zach Yenser, another ex-49ers aide, is UK’s fourth offensive line coach in the past three seasons. After so much churn on the Cats’ offensive coaching staff, it should be self-evident that Kentucky needs stability.
But the troubling thing about this season has been that the Kentucky offense, college players attempting to master and run a complex NFL system, has not shown sustained improvement at any point.
After having an open date following week seven, UK has averaged 13.5 points and 268.5 yards a game in the four contests since.
To be blunt: There’s no benefit in stability if you have an offensive system that isn’t working.
Yet the extent to which Kentucky has struggled this season in the offensive line is another variable Stoops has to weigh. Georgia’s one sack Saturday was the 40th surrendered by UK this season.
How much of the offensive front’s struggles, if any, are the responsibility of coaching? If it’s not coaching, how much should the pass protection problems therefore mitigate against harsh judgments of Scangarello’s coaching performance?
What is certain is that a campaign that began with Cats fans envisioning Saturday’s tilt with Georgia being for the SEC East championship will instead end with Kentucky playing archrvial Louisville this coming week trying to secure a winning record.
Scangarello can make his case for another year by cajoling a season’s-best offensive showing from his unit in Saturday’s annual intrastate grudgefest with U of L.
“I can’t wait. I am excited,” Scangarello said of his first time coaching in the Governor’s Cup rivalry. “This state has so much pride in these universities — especially UK. It’s the pro team (here). I want it to be great. I’ll do my part. To do that, means we’ve got to go through the team down the road this week.”
This story was originally published November 19, 2022 at 11:50 PM.
