First Down Kentucky: Barion Brown is Catching Long Balls One Month from the Season Opener
We had to call an audible in the headline of today’s edition of First Down Kentucky. That’s because Brock Vandagriff is launching long balls to Barion Brown.
You’ve seen the clips before. They’ve just all been from the College Football ’25 video game. This time it’s for real life (shout out to all the Moms and Dads watching Bluey).
Kentucky opened practice today at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. After a quiet offseason, this 10-second highlight will get the hype train rolling in no time.
If you are worried that it was completely one-sided, don’t. Max Hairston got in on the fun and JQ Hardaway picked off a pass.
If that doesn’t get you fired up to see the Wildcats in action, I don’t know what will. Need more? Take a closer look at a full gallery of photographs from the first day of Kentucky football practice.
One Month till Kentucky Hosts Southern Miss
The first Kentucky football practice of fall camp falls exactly one month from the season-opener at Kroger Field against Southern Miss. It will be here before you know it.
Season-opening games against Southern Miss might bring up PTSD for some Kentucky football fans. The 2016 campaign started with so much promise until things spiraled at the end of the first half against the Golden Eagles. With Shannon Dawson calling the plays, Southern came from behind to win 44-35.
That should not be the case on Aug. 31. The Golden Eagles’ proud past feels far off in the distance. The days of sold out games to watch Brett Favre sling the rock in Hattiesburg are long gone, in large part thanks to conference realignment. Southern Miss got left behind and things are looking bleak ahead of the 2024 season.
Southern Miss finally escaped the Conference-USA quicksand and joined the Sun Belt for the 2022 season. They had some immediate success with a 7-6 campaign, then followed it up with a 3-9 season in 2023. This year they are predicted to finish second-to-last in the Sun Belt West. In the preseason SP+ rankings, Southern Miss ranks No. 123 out of 134 FBS teams.
The first game under the new LED lights at Kroger Field is shaping up to be an entertaining one for Kentucky football fans. The Wildcats are currently 26-point favorites in the opener. You have one month to prepare for your first Kentucky football tailgate. Don’t Geek.
Kentucky is Ready to Run the Damn Ball
Earlier this week at the Lexington Kickoff Luncheon, new play-caller Bush Hamdan said he’s prepared to run the ball 30 times a game. That may sound like a lot, but ideally, that’s less than half of the NCAA average of 65 per game. Nevertheless, the point stands. Mark Stoops is ready to run the ball downhill.
“This game at this level, you’re not going to be consistent unless you can run the ball. That doesn’t mean we have to go back and just run the football. We want to be exciting. We want the ball to be downfield. That helps set all of that up if you can run the football and be effective running the football,” Mark Stoops told the Kentucky beat at SEC Media Days in Dallas.
“I think if you talk to every single head coach at media days, every one of them would say you want to be physical up front, no matter what it is. You look at the offenses that everybody is wowed by the speed and getting down the field — Tennessee, Ole Miss, some of those guys — they run the heck out of the ball. It starts there.”
He’s not wrong. Josh Heupel’s Tennessee offense is synonymous with long passing plays, yet the Vols led the league in rushing last year. Ole Miss ranked fifth, averaging more than 176 yards on the ground per game. This year’s group of Kentucky running backs is unproven, but OT Marques Cox is confident in whoever’s number is called.
“We’re gonna run the ball, plain and simple,” Cox said in Dallas. “We got Chip, we got Demie, we got Patterson, we got great running backs old and young. It doesn’t matter who’s running the ball, we’re going to run it.”
A Beautiful Will Levis Deep Ball
Brock Vandagriff isn’t the only one throwing deep balls in practice. Will Levis pulled the pin at Titans’ training camp and dropped a bomb to Treylon Burks. The Former Arkansas Razorback actually caught it. The AFC South might be one of the most fun divisions in the NFL this fall.
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