Bush Hamdan, Stoops Weigh In On What Went Wrong with the Offense

by:Nick Roush•09/07/24•

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Bush Hamdan Talks Loss To South Carolina

The Kentucky offense was as bad as it’s ever been against South Carolina. What exactly went wrong? A lot of things, but I’ll let the new play-caller share his thoughts.

“I really felt like I struggled to get into a rhythm all day,” Bush Hamdan said following the 31-6 loss. “It just seemed like there were so many self-inflicted wounds at all levels early in the game, and certainly coming out of that second half, so it’s on me. We gotta play cleaner and that was obviously undisciplined football. It starts with me.”

South Carolina was disruptive and that’s putting it lightly. Kentucky knew their excellent edge rushers could create havoc, but they failed to successfully gameplan around it.

“There were some things early, certain calls maybe put us behind the sticks, a lot of second and long situations and it allowed them to pin their ears back. We gotta stay ahead of the sticks. It was something we talked about all week and we obviously didn’t execute,” said Hamdan.

Mistakes Piled Up for Kentucky

There was one play in particular that irked the head coach, Mark Stoops. Demie Sumo-Karngbaye gained nine yards on first down. On second and one Barion Brown‘s number was called on a jet sweep and he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of seven yards.

“We talked about not getting the ball on the perimeter early and letting those guys get up the field and hit big tackles for loss. That’s on me again,” said Stoops. “I got to reemphasize that when we run it for nine yards on first down, second and one, I’d like to go that way again, you know, I’d like to go forward and not sideways. We go backwards and lose seven yards, and there goes a possession.”

There was an option for Brock Vandagriff to hand the ball off to the outside or keep it and run inside. He made the wrong read. It was one of many mistakes the first-year starter made against South Carolina. He completed just three passes in the first three quarters for 30 yards. His final play of the day was an interception on the first snap of the fourth quarter that was returned for a touchdown.

“There’s ups, there’s downs. Obviously, put that one on me,” said Hamdan. “We’re fully confident in everything he can do. We gotta put him in better situations and that’s part of the struggle of the ups and downs, certainly when you get into conference play and we gotta be ready to go next week.”

Brock Vandagriff Must Bounce Back vs. Former Team

Vandagriff is facing his former team, but that was the furthest thing on his mind postgame.

“Georgia’s got a good squad. We got a good squad as well. The main thing on the mind right now is putting this game to bed, making sure we get in, get our corrections, making sure we’re going full speed, full tilt on Monday. We’ll attack Georgia when it’s time,” said Vandagriff.

Kentucky only gained 183 yards of offense against South Carolina. That’s about as bad as it gets. Mark Stoops called on his team to respond to adversity and they must figure out how to do it in a hurry.

“At Kentucky, we see ourselves as a Blue Collar football team, tough dudes. We just didn’t answer on offense. Defense played their butts off today, definitely in the first half. We gotta be able to move the ball and help those guys out, put some points on the board.”

Vandagriff continued, “We gotta make sure everybody’s coming back in with a hard hat and a hammer, ready to get back to work and really learn from this game.”