First Down Kentucky: 3 Things We Learned on the Mark Stoops Show

by:Nick Roush•10/07/24•

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Monday night’s Mark Stoops Show wasn’t reserved exclusively for the Kentucky head football coach. Deone Walker and Brock Vandagriff spent one segment talking with the Voice of the Wildcats.

Before I provide a synopsis of what went down during the one-hour radio program, allow me to share something that Mark Stoops didn’t — any injury update. The head coach is staying tight-lipped outside of his mandatory injury reporting requirements. Even though he didn’t shed any light on the roster, we did learn a few things while the basketball team’s pro day event was streaming on SECN+.

Stoops Compares Vandy to a Triple Option Team

It won’t be the last time you hear Vanderbilt’s offense compared to the triple option. It’s not just because Diego Pavia can use his legs to move the sticks.

“He does best when he’s outside of the pocket, so we got to keep him contained inside and just win the line of scrimmage,” said Walker.

The Commodores use a lot of pre-snap motion and unbalanced formations to create misdirection. Stoops compared them to Ole Miss, but in the exact opposite way. One team hits you with a ton of tempo through the air, while the other tries to possess the ball for long chunks of time by methodically moving the ball down the field with an atypical rushing attack. Each is incredibly dangerous while playing with a lead. Kentucky used the bye week to get a jump start in prep for this unusual Commodores offense.

Deone Walker is a Hockey Guy

The Detroit native spent his bye week in the Music City. No, he wasn’t doing a little advanced scouting on Vanderbilt. Walker spent time with his family at Bridgestone Arena to watch some hockey between the Predators and Matt Jones’ Carolina Hurricanes.

“Man, it was crazy,” said the Kentucky defensive lineman. “I was actually at the Predators game, a little ice hockey. Still was watching the game on my phone. It was a crazy ending. Downtown was crazy.”

They didn’t announce the score to the arena, but “everyone was cheering.” I can only imagine what it was like on Broadway following that surreal scene.

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Lessons Learned as the Kentucky Starting QB

One Kentucky fan asked Vandagriff a question that produced an interesting response, “What are some lessons that it takes game reps to truly learn?” After five weeks of starts, Vandagriff spent a moment searching for a moment where he had an epiphany.

“There’s nothing like too crazy. As a coach’s son, also being able to practice with Georgia’s defense and now Kentucky’s defense at practice, practice is tough. It’s not like when the lights come on, it’s polar opposite. We practice hard here. Our defense is really good, so there hasn’t been too many things besides…”

That’s when it hit him, the one thing he had to learn the hard way as a starter. The hits hurt. “It took some game reps to learn to protect yourself, slide when need be. Obviously, in practice you’re not getting hit and stuff.”

Vandagriff said he found out immediately during the season opener vs Southern Miss. “I think I was really fired up for the season, ready to go. Waking up that Sunday morning wasn’t the best feeling ever.”

“Vandy is My Daddy”

No offense to Coach Stoops, Brock, or Deone, but that wasn’t the most interesting call-in show on Monday. Enjoy 5 minutes of Finebaum’s most unhinged callers, highlighted by the man whose name speaks for itself, Legend.