First Down Kentucky: Brock Vandagriff is locked in

Kentucky has some intriguing pieces on their football team this season. The defense has a chance to become one of the better units in the conference and the offense has some high-end talent at receiver. But quarterback is a big question mark for the program. It sounds like Georgia transfer Brock Vandagriff answered some of those questions in Kentucky’s first fall camp scrimmage over the weekend.

Vandagriff connected with Dane Key for a vertical completion early in the scrimmage and has drawn very positive reviews from both the players and coaching staff since the performance. Offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan is excited about his signal-caller.

“Extremely steady. He’s a guy that knows what he wants to do. Is really playing a consistent brand of football. Certainly, things we want to take the next steps on with him but he has been a guy since we’ve got here that just keeps getting better and better,” Hamdan told KSR on Monday. “I think he’s got a really good grasp of this thing. We’re excited to turn him loose.”

After an offseason filled without much hype for Kentucky’s big-ticket quarterback addition, buzz is now starting to build. If the SEC transfer plays up to his high school recruiting ranking that will result in some very good moments for the Wildcats this fall.

First Down Kentucky has a full practice report after speaking with Hamdan on Monday. The explosive play potential of this offense continues to stand out.

Kentucky could be explosive again

Despite being the slowest offense in college football last season, Kentucky was one of the most explosive units in the SEC. The Wildcats recorded 11 plays of 50-plus yards tied with LSU at the top of the league. One of those offenses had the Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback and two first-round picks at wide receiver. The other finished No. 103 in offensive success rate.

Much of this offseason has been about improving Kentucky’s down-to-down efficiency but this offense could have a strong slugging percentage again in 2024.

“There’s big play potential in this offense. There is. We think both schematically, but also, the players that we have. We often talk about it, you never know when that play is going to come but you get one shot at it. So you gotta be ready,” Hamdan told reporters. “We gotta trust landmarks. We gotta make big plays and obviously, we’ve gotta keep working towards that.”

It sounds like Kentucky hit on a few explosive plays in the scrimmage and we can expect those extra-base hits to still be in the offense this season.

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Transfers are stepping up on the offensive line

Since his arrival, Bush Hamdan has said many good things about center Eli Cox and believes his football intelligence will help the offense immensely this season. However, we haven’t heard much about the other four starters. The two expected transfer starters performed well for the Wildcats on Saturday.

Florida transfer Jalen Farmer and Tennessee transfer Gerald Mincey made a strong impression in the fall camp scrimmage.

“Was pleased with both Farmer and Mincey on the right side of the line. And the line in general in how they protected,” Hamdan said. “As you guys know, it’s a constant moving a guy here to the left side to the right side trying to make the best lineups you can but there’s certainly some guys really coming on.”

Kentucky needs both SEC transfers to play well this fall. Each seemingly locked up a starting spot during spring practice and will be key cogs for offensive line coach Eric Wolford this season.

Kentucky’s culture remains strong

Culture for a college football program looks different in 2024. With the transfer portal and NIL, there are more variables to deal with in team building. Revenue sharing will soon be another variable coaching staffs will have to handle. That makes building a good, solid program culture more difficult.

Despite the changes, Kentucky’s culture has remained stable. Last year’s upset win in the Governor’s Cup was an example of that as the Wildcats were able to put together a good performance immediately after a very disappointing loss to South Carolina. Bush Hamdan has noticed that culture immediately and is enjoying being a part of it now.

“These guys want to be here. They’re excited to be here,” said Hamdan. “There’s something about the culture here and they are all in 1,000 percent.”

“It’s an eager group. It’s a good group that wants to work hard and I appreciate that.”

Kentucky is hopeful that team camaraderie will lead to wins this fall.