Brock Vandagriff 'sensing color' as pass protection woes continue: "We have to get some time."

There was plenty of good that came from Kentucky‘s 41-6 win over Ohio, specifically on the offensive side of the football. We already know this defense is elite — it’s the offense, though, that went nine consecutive quarters without finding the end zone.

Then it found it four times, along with a fifth score coming on defense thanks to Maxwell Hairston‘s third-quarter pick-six. Brock Vandagriff threw for 237 yards — his first career 200-yard game — with completions to six different pass-catchers while Dane Key went for a career-high 145 yards on seven receptions. Factor that in with 206 rushing yards for 488 total yards with 7.2 yards per play and it was undoubtedly a good day for Bush Hamdan‘s unit.

But it wasn’t perfect with pass protection continuing to be the Wildcats’ Achilles heel. Ohio still managed to rack up two sacks, five QB hits and seven tackles for loss, Vandagriff forced to scramble and work outside the pocket for the majority of his production.

It worked, but is it sustainable in the SEC with six league games to go, four on the road? Mark Stoops isn’t willing to take that gamble. The Kentucky head coach wants it cleaned up — and quickly.

“Obviously, he was 17 of 24 but that doesn’t count running from his life on six or eight sacks,” he said. “But to him, you know we have to speed up and he has to go through a progression for us to progress. We have to get some time.”

It’s why the Wildcats continued to tinker with the passing game late despite boasting a comfortable lead and the victory in hand. He wasn’t looking to run up the score, but rather use every available game rep possible before the SEC schedule ramps back up.

They have no choice but to figure things out ahead of what should be an offensive shootout in Oxford against Lane Kiffin and the Ole Miss Rebels.

“That’s why late in the game there, I was saying let’s continue to throw the ball, even with the negatives,” Stoops said. “It got a little sloppy. … We know there is improvement to be made. We were trying to just work on that thing.”

What you can’t have is your starting quarterback constantly ‘sensing color,’ as he described it after the win. His training tells him to keep his eyes downfield and go through his progressions, but his gut tells him in real time to keep his head on a swivel to avoid getting crushed. That mental clock is just ticking a bit too quickly for his liking, an issue he says is on him needing to step up in the pocket or trust their body of work together that pressure isn’t always coming when it feels it should be imminent.

That’s life as a first-year starter with limited game reps trying to build chemistry with new teammates.

“That’s definitely something that the quarterback has got to be just ready for, I would say. It’s tough at times, because you’re keying your safeties downfield or whoever you want to key, trying to see the coverage, trying to see what routes are going to be there against what coverage that is,” Vandagriff said. “It’s kind of a feel thing, you’re feeling color. As you’re doing your dropback, you’re not looking dead in front of you at the rush, you can’t look at the rush. That’s some of the stuff I’ve tried to do, being able to — maybe as a wide rush, I’m able to step up.

“But if there’s push in front of you, you’re just sensing color, sensing pressure, and just trying to get out of there.”

It’s not just one player or side of the offensive line, there have been struggles across the board that just have to get fixed. That only comes with live experience and continued time spent together as a unit in practice.

“It’s been everybody,” Stoops said. “… Everybody’s had a turn. We have to continually work to have a continuity of the offensive line. They all could do it. We just got to work together. It’s not like some big massive scheme problem or anything like that. We just have to continue to work and be on the same page and strain and finish our box.”

Again, Kentucky’s 41-6 win over Ohio was a step in the right direction. Albeit not perfect, the offense stayed on the field and figured out how to put points on the board, the coaching staff working to play to the unit’s strengths and minimize the weaknesses. It’s progress, the operation slowly but surely figuring itself out over time.

Vandagriff feels himself growing more confident and comfortable with each passing week.

“[Getting comfortable] is definitely a thing. But what I will say—with the stuff that Coach Hamdan has done, the stuff he talks about—his main thing is he doesn’t want it to look like a first-year operation. He thinks that is definitely going to get better as we go. We’re just fine-tuning some stuff with personnel groups and the people we want out there. And the O-line is playing well, the running backs are playing well, stuff like that.”

There’s plenty of blame to go around when things have gone wrong — himself included. It’s an all-in effort to get the offense rolling the way they feel they’re capable of playing. Everyone can contribute to winning football.

Now it’s time to see if they can start doing it in the SEC, Ole Miss in Oxford being the next test.

“If it’s taking a while to develop down the field, then I’ve got to find my outlets and stuff. Not all that is on the O-line at all. They played their butts off today,’ Vandagriff said. “I definitely could do better back there and help the team out, being able to find those check-downs faster. Maybe the coverage is telling me to throw this certain route, but if there’s pressure, it doesn’t matter. You’ve got to be able to get the ball out.

“So, I take the blame for some of that stuff, at the end of the day. I’ve just got to be better when it comes to that.”