Kentucky shows off culture in total slobber knocker against No. 1 Georgia

Kentucky’s football program was in a bad place following the Week 2 loss to South Carolina at home. The Wildcats are now off to an 0-2 start in SEC play, but the program took a big step forward in Week 3. No. 1 Georgia barely got out of Kroger Field alive.

The Bulldogs lost the total yardage (282-264), first downs (23-12), third down (9/16-5/13), and non-sack rushing (212-102) battles but were able to find enough explosive plays from star quarterback Carson Beck to distance themselves from unranked Kentucky in a 13-12 win that included one touchdown and six field goals.

But this week was never about Georgia — it was all about Kentucky. The Wildcats showed fight, found an offensive identity, and have a clear path to winning football games.

KSR is unpacking what we learned in Week 3 live from the Kroger Field press box.

Brock Vandagriff bounces back

Brock Vandagriff will have better statistical games. Brock Vandagriff’s poor ball security allowed Georgia to score their only points of the first half. Brock Vandagriff still needs to improve.

But Brock Vandagriff proved that he was the guy to lead this Kentucky offense and program on Saturday night against the best defense in college football.

Georgia leaves the victory with their no touchdowns streak intact, but the Wildcats were able to consistently move the football against the Bulldogs. The quarterback was a big reason why.

Vandagriff completed 14-of-27 throws for 114 yards under constant pressure but also used his legs to pick up two third down conversions and chip in 68 non-sack rushing yards 10 attempts. The redshirt junior helped Kentucky play ahead of the chains and gave this team a chance to win.

Improvement is still needed. Kentucky must find a way to create explosives in the passing game, but the foundation is there. Vandagriff is good enough to lead this team to victories and eventually become a playmaker for offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan.

Kentucky has found an identity

We all know what Mark Stoops wants his football teams to be. The Wildcats are at their best when they can run the football and play good defense. That allows Kentucky to play with game control and lean on complementary football to win games.

Kentucky didn’t win on Saturday, but we’ve seen this offensive line consistently reset the line of scrimmage against two good SEC defensive fronts. After rushing for 180 non-sack yards on 4.4 yards per rush versus South Carolina, Kentucky rolled up 212 non-sack yards on five yards per rush against the best defense in college football. Bush Hamdan’s offense did that with only two healthy scholarship tailbacks.

The traditional run game can cook, and that will allow Kentucky to be at its best for the rest of the season. We still need to see the passing game grow, but everything starts with Kentucky’s “run the ball” philosophy. This is how they win games.

On the other side of the football, Kentucky sured up the coverage busts and held Georgia to 13 points on 4.9 yards per play and 102 non-sack rushing yards on 3.4 yards per rush. The run defense continues to be the real deal, and the safety play showed significant improvement in Week 3. Now this defense needs some fumble luck to bounce in their favor.

With nine games left in the season, Kentucky has found a true identity that could allow them to gobble up some wins over the upcoming stretch.

What does Kentucky regret about the second-to-last

Following a three-and-out — and another missed fumble recovery opportunity — Kentucky’s offense got the ball back down 13-12 with 6:25 left in the fourth quarter. Starting at their own 16, a defensive holding call on Georgia’s Malaki Starks extended the drive on the first third down of the series, and the run game again got the home team rolling.

A Brock Vandagriff 10-yard scramble moved Kentucky to their own 40 before three consecutive running back runs set up a second-and-eight at the Georgia 47. Bush Hamdan went to a pass call off a jet sweep action. Vandagriff worked to his checkdown Anthony Brown-Stephens, who was wide open on the left sideline. Unfortunately, a batted ball created a third-and-long with just over three minutes remaining.

With an offensive line that still has major issues in pass protection, Kentucky found itself in no man’s land with three timeouts, the two-minute timeout, and a defense that had bottled up the Georgia running game all night. I believe punting is probably the right call, but the Wildcats should want the second down call back.

A short second down run gets the offensive into third-and-medium creating an automatic go situation. The calculus is different in third-and-long/fourth-and-long when you have to dropback pass and protect — something Kentucky has struggled with all season. I think Stoops made the right call for the situation, but the second down call could’ve been improved, setting up a true two downs to convert situation on third and fourth down.