Gavin Wimsatt a 'real talent' at quarterback: "We have a lot of confidence in him"

The offense was humming with Brock Vandagriff through three quarters and change, Kentucky going up 34-6 with 11:45 to go against Ohio. After forcing a quick three-and-out, QB1 was pulled for QB2, Owensboro native Gavin Wimsatt entering the game with ten minutes to go to close things out.

From there, he would take the Wildcats down the field on an 11-play, 59-yard drive that would end in a two-yard rushing score for the Owensboro native. It was a six-minute stretch that included completions of 25 and 20 yards — the latter to convert on a long third down — while adding rushes of ten, nine and two into the end zone.

Wimsatt took two tackles for loss, but it’s hard to argue the junior quarterback was anything but sharp in his limited time on the field. And his head coach noticed, Mark Stoops’ hope all season long seeing how the Rutgers transfer has played behind the scenes up to this point.

“Late in the game, I wanted to continue to work on the pass game, you know what I mean? With Gavin, he mixed it up,” Stoops said in a postgame radio conversation with Tom Leach. “I just wanted to play the game and give him an opportunity to throw and run and just operate the offense.”

That he did, pushing his season totals to 59 yards through the air on 5-10 passing while adding 69 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries in two game appearances.

Known primarily as a dynamic rushing threat, his biggest plays came on those long first-down conversions to Anthony Brown-Stephens on 2nd and 23 and to Fred Farrier on 3rd and 19. No one has ever questioned his ability to move the ball on the ground, but if he can do it through the air? Man.

That’s why Stoops has wanted to see him take live reps after playing in 25 games with 19 starts in three seasons in the Big 10 at Rutgers. He was a former four-star recruit and prized in-state target for a reason.

Wimsatt came here to play and his head coach wants to give him as many opportunities as possible.

“He really did (make some fantastic throws). I thought he looked good,” Stoops said. “We’ve wanted to see him. We have a lot of confidence in him. Obviously, we have some other plays where he can play. When the game is on the line last week against Georgia, the opportunity just didn’t present itself.”

The Owensboro isn’t a gimmick quarterback limited to rushing conversions and mop-up reps in Stoops’ eyes. He believes in Wimsatt as a serious contributor for this program moving forward.

“We’ve been wanting to get him in there, and not just in the run game or anything like that,” he said. “Just wanted to get him in there and get him reps and let him see what he can do, because he’s a real talent.”

No quarterback controversy in Lexington, just plenty of raw talent at Stoops’ disposal. And he’s trying to figure out how to utilize it all.