Kentucky Football Bye Week Report Card: Offense

The bye week serves two functions for college football programs. It’s an opportunity for players to heal their banged-up bodies and for coaches to self-scout. The extra time allows coaches to see what they’re doing well and analyze how they can mitigate their shortcomings. We aren’t coaches, but we can certainly apply this exercise to the Kentucky football team.

Typically, there is only one bye that falls in the middle of October. Thanks to a quirk in the calendar, Kentucky will have two bye weeks. After five weeks of football, let’s assess each position group to this point. Before you quickly scroll through each grade, remember that these will be on a curve. After all, this is just the midterm. There’s plenty of work to be completed before the final exam.

Quarterback

Brock Vandagriff has completed right at 60% of his passes and thrown more interceptions (2) than touchdowns against SEC foes (1). The Wildcats rank 14th in the SEC in passing yards per game (170.4). Nevertheless, he has shown tangible growth in every start since he took a walloping against South Carolina. There are instances where Vandagriff holds onto the ball too long or he misses an open target, something that will surely be pointed out during this week’s film study.

More importantly, he has shown some guts. He’s a tough dude, and the mental toughness has been even more impressive. After getting hit about 200 times at South Carolina, he was undeterred on the first series the following week at Georgia, dodging a blitzer from his own end zone to run for a first down. When Kentucky needed a big play on fourth down on the road in the SEC, he made a courageous throw to Barion Brown that will become a play that lives forever in UK lore.

We knew the QB run game would be an overall plus under Bush Hamdan and Gavin Wimsatt has had solid contributions in that department. The two have combined for 316 non-sack rushing yards and are averaging 6.2 yards per carry.

Grade: C+

Running Back

We have yet to see Chip Trayanum in action and it’s unclear if and when that will ever happen. The injury bug also bit Jason Patterson. The highly-touted true freshman has been absent since the South Carolina game.

The Kentucky rushing operation has been efficient despite the injury absences and zero games with a 100-yard rusher. No, they will not be featured among the league’s leaders in most statistics, but they ranked No. 16 nationally in rushing success rate. The Wildcats are staying ahead of the chains with the reliable Demie Sumo-Karngbaye and Jamarion Wilcox has shown some big-play potential. Another overall positive that must be mentioned — DSK is Kentucky’s top-graded pass-blocker, according to PFF.

Grade: B+

Got thoughts? Continue the conversation on KSBoard, the KSR Message Board.

Wide Receivers

Like the entire offense, it took some time for the wide receivers to find the right fit. Barion Brown didn’t have a reception over 20 yards until he ripped off a 60+ yarder on fourth and long at Ole Miss. Dane Key had eight receptions for 199 yards through his first three games. He has 15 receptions for 250 in his last two.

Fred Farrier and Anthony Brown-Stephens have sprinkled in a few exceptional moments. We’re still waiting for Ja’Mori Maclin to fire on all cylinders, yet it’s hard to knock this group too much after their performance in Oxford.

Grade: B-

Tight Ends

Kentucky tight ends have caught eight passes for 74 yards in five games. Jordan Dingle accounts for most of that production, including the tight ends’ lone receiving touchdown. Although Josh Kattus might have the biggest score of any player this year, recovering a fumble for Kentucky’s go-ahead touchdown at Ole Miss.

“Why don’t they ever use the tight ends?” is a common refrain around BBN. They’re actually being used in the passing game more than ever before, it’s just for pass protection. By Luckett’s calculation, they were in 12 personnel around 40% of the time at Ole Miss. The most tight end-heavy NFL teams only roll out two tight ends about 30% of the time.

That doesn’t mean the protection has been perfect. Kattus has allowed a couple of sacks, but he’s also been a pretty good lead blocker in Kentucky’s counter-run game. The tight ends must be more consistent following the bye week. Most importantly, they gotta capitalize on their shots. Hamdan dialed up a few plays to scheme them open at Ole Miss. Kattus fell down once, the ball was tipped on another, and Vandagriff missed Dingle once in the end zone. The only shot they hit was a 25-yard gain to the true freshman, Willie Rodriguez. No. 81 looks like he’s going to be a ball player.

Grade: C–

Sign up for the KSR Newsletter to receive Kentucky Wildcats news in the most ridiculous manner possible.

Offensive Line

Grading the offensive line through five games feels like an impossible task. They looked as bad as they possibly could have against South Carolina, then looked like a completely different unit a week later.

Pass protection is a concern, although it’s steadily improved week to week. They’ve shown a lot of growth in the run game as well, despite the difficult circumstances a week ago against the formidable Ole Miss front seven. The counter-run game should open the door for more explosive play opportunities. The offensive line isn’t the strength of the offense, but it’s becoming less and less of a liability.

After receiving an F against the Gamecocks, they’ve strung together enough B+ efforts to get this group in the green.

Grade: C–

Overall Grade for the Kentucky Offense: C

The old saying is that Cs get degrees, and that’s the case with this team. This is a challenging exercise for the Kentucky offense. On paper, this doesn’t look like winning football under almost any metric, but that’s exactly what they are playing, winning football.

Complementary football is the better term. You can’t rank in the Top 25 nationally in success rate without an effective offense. It took them some time to settle in and discover the right formula for success. The run game has exceeded expectations and is certainly a strength, while the passing game appears to be hitting its stride as Vandagriff becomes more comfortable at creating explosives while under pressure.

Ole Miss and South Carolina ranked in the Top 10 nationally in adjusted EPA per play defense. The next three opponents — Vanderbilt (103), Auburn (65), and Florida (114) — fall well short of that mark, opening the door for the offense to hit its stride in the middle of the season.