Rich Scangarello, Kentucky offense must show improvements now

We are eight games into the Rich Scangarello era at Kentucky, and things are not trending well for the first-year play-caller. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach and Denver Broncos offensive coordinator is overseeing an offense that is coming woefully short of expectations.

Through five SEC games, Kentucky is averaging only 17 offensive points per game. The Wildcats have not scored more than 31 offensive points in a game this season. UK ranks No. 12 in the SEC in yards per play (5.5) and is No. 95 nationally in red zone touchdown percentage (56.2%). Despite having an NFL quarterback, one of the best tailbacks in program history, and quality depth at both wide receiver and tight end, the offense simply cannot score points.

The Wildcats have been a sloppy football team with 15 turnovers. Auburn and South Carolina are the only teams in the SEC with more. Things are not trending well, and it feels like the offense hit rock bottom in a 44-6 loss against Tennessee where the passing game had its worst performance of the season against a defense that ranked sub-90 in every passing statistic entering Week 9.

That has made a lot of people upset and frustrated in the Bluegrass. Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops is firmly in the camp that is irked. Scangarello and his offense must start showing improvements immediately as Kentucky begins a critical four-game stretch to end the season.

“It’s hard to say after a game like that because once again I’m smart enough not to get a headline out of me with acting like I’m pleased with that performance because I’m clearly not,” Stoops told reporters on Monday. “Nobody should be. So you have to always look at things and evaluate things and see the good and the bad and where you’re falling short. What else you going to do? There’s nothing drastic. You certainly better look at it and you better address it and you better get it fixed or you’re not going to last.

That certainly seems like a direct message to Kentucky’s offensive coordinator. To this point, Stoops and the Wildcats are not getting what they signed up for as Scangarello is making $900,000 this season with a bump to $1 million coming in 2023. The buyout is large ($750,000) but coming up with the money for these types of things seems easier than ever for major college athletic programs.

The Cats have gone from a top-25 offense with an NFL quarterback returning to one that looks clunky and can’t score points through 32 quarters of football. That needs to change.

It’s clear that the offensive line situation is not great and that the coaching staff could have a long rebuild there to get that unit back to where the standard was set with the Big Blue Wall, but not all of the blame can go on that group. The staff must do a better job of game planning and getting better execution from their players to allow this offense to reach its potential.

So far, Kentucky is bad on offense in 2022, and it’s threatening to sink the season. The Cats have a chance to close strong in November with three winnable games remaining, but it could be hard to get those victories if the offense does not start pulling its weight.

“Again, we’ve been through it, and there’s some areas where everybody can do better. We can certainly coach better,” said Stoops.

Kentucky needs to see some improvement from the offense fast. Much of this falls on Scangarello and the rest of the offensive coaching staff. If it doesn’t come, some hard decisions could need to be made following the season.