Gavin Wimsatt's Ill-Fated Interception Should Have Been a Run

If you’re wondering why Gavin Wimsatt threw the ball on third and five when the Wildcats were inside field goal range in the third quarter, the Kentucky coaches are too.

Wimsatt had played in almost every game this season. Last week, Bush Hamdan gave the Rutgers transfer the reigns to the offense in the second half against Auburn. He was a big part of last week’s game plan, but that was not the case for today’s game.

Wimsatt was thrust into action after a James Pearce sack gave Brock Vandagriff a head injury that sidelined him for the rest of the night. Trailing 14-10, Kentucky played conservatively with QB2, running the ball on seven straight plays.

Kentucky had a third and five on the Tennesse 27-yard line. Instead of running it for an eighth-straight play, Wimsatt tried to hit Josh Kattus on a quick hitch. The ball was late. Tennessee safety Will Brooks jumped the route and nearly returned it for a touchdown.

WILL BROOKS SAID GIMME THAT 😤 @Vol_Football pic.twitter.com/jnhkIYGKO0

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) November 3, 2024

The pass was not a part of the coaches’ plan.

“We have a read there,” Mark Stoops said after the 28-18 loss. “We wanted him to run it there and go for it on fourth (down), but he thought it was open and got the pick.”

The Kentucky quarterback shared what he saw on the play. “I saw the Mike (linebacker blitz. We still have a blocker for that guy and I have to know that,” said Wimsatt. “It’s just a mistake by me that can’t happen.”

Instead of taking the lead to make it a one-point game, Tennessee had the ball and was running the other way. Wimsatt made the tackle to keep the Volunteer defense from scoring seven points, but it only took two plays for Tennessee to find the end zone and retake the lead for good.

The turnover-turned-touchdown capped off a 14-0 blitz where the Wildcats watched a 10-7 lead quickly erode away, thanks to consecutive turnovers.

Kentucky lost the turnover battle 3-1. They committed 10 penalties and six of those were before the snap. Simply put, Kentucky isn’t good enough to overcome that many mistakes against a Top 10 football team.

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