Brock Vandagriff: "When you don't play good, you don't play, obviously."

For the second half of Kentucky’s third straight loss, Brock Vandagriff was on the bench. The Georgia transfer previously juggled quarterbacking duties with Gavin Wimsatt for a play or two at a time. This was the first time the reins of the offense were completely handed over to the Rutgers transfer.

The move did not result in a much-needed spark for the Kentucky offense against Auburn, but Vandagriff understands why the coaches felt the need to give No. 2 a chance.

“When you don’t play good, you don’t play, obviously. I obviously was not playing that well,” Vandagriff said on Tuesday.

Vandagriff was 9-17 for 120 yards and an interception in the first half of the Auburn loss. This season he has six touchdowns and five interceptions for the worst passing attack in the SEC (166.1 yards per game).

“You gotta really look yourself in the mirror, things of that sort. There are definitely some plays I wish I had back, just gotta get better on third down and that’s mainly coming from me. Gotta make sure I’m doing better on third down and get better every day.”

He noted that Kentucky was 0-6 on third down plays with 7-10 yards to move the chains. “That’s just obvious passing downs. The quarterback’s gotta be better there and that was me,” he said.

Vandagriff wants to be on the Field

It’s unclear whether or not Vandagriff or Wimsatt’s number will be called first in the game against Tennessee. Bush Hamdan wanted to share the plan with each player in a face-to-face conversation. It’s unlikely that we will know the plan at quarterback until kickoff Saturday night in Knoxville.

Coaches have praised Vandagriff’s poise throughout this tumultuous season.

“He’s very, very steady. I’m sure internally, maybe he’s a touch frustrated, maybe motivated, I don’t know. But externally, you know on the field and when he’s around us, he’s like he always is,” Mark Stoops said on today’s SEC Teleconference.

“He’s very consistent. He’s a competitor. Any competitor would be bothered internally, but for him, it’s business as usual. What can I do to improve? How can I help this team?”

On the outside, Vandagriff does not look bothered. It does not diminish his desire to play quality football for the Cats.

“As a competitor, you want to be out there. I feel like any competitor on our team is going to want to have the ball in their hands when the game’s that close,” he said.

“At the end of the day, I don’t know if you’d say from a maturity standpoint, but the realization that this is a business, and if you’re not getting it done, then you don’t need to be playing. And I wasn’t getting it done. There’s no resentment, nothing like that. They went with the best decision at the time and you gotta live with that and when your number’s called, you gotta be ready.”

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