Monday Huddle: Reset and Refresh

The second bye week of the 2024 Kentucky football season arrives in Week 11 at a good time. The Wildcats are reeling having lost four consecutive conference games since the last bye week and now the injury report is growing quickly. This is a banged up that has not won a game in over a month.

Kentucky needs to reset and refresh.

The Wildcats will get this week off before hosting Murray State in Week 12 and then ending the season with Texas and Louisville. The next outing at Kroger Field will be a get-right spot for the program but UK will be an underdog in their final two games and may likely still have a short-handed roster.

Over the next week, Kentucky must attempt to get as healthy as possible and figure out the best path forward as a team. KSR’s Monday Huddle is beginning another week by looking at what each phase will attempt to accomplish in the bye week and moving forward.

First Down: QB1 watch as we play the waiting game

Brock Vandagriff was knocked out of the Tennessee game with what appeared to be a concussion in the third quarter. The redshirt junior’s status is currently unknown. Regardless, there will likely be reps to fill at Kentucky’s practice this week. Gavin Wimsatt could be in line to make his first career start at Kentucky but the coaching staff could look to get a young player involved.

Cutter Boley was a four-star recruiting win for Kentucky in the 2024 high school cycle after throwing for 8,331 yards during his prep career. Kentucky offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan mentioned that the young player could get an extended look in practice moving forward.

“I think so, yeah,” Hamdan said when asked if Boley would get a longer look during the upcoming bye. “We’ll see where we’re at with everything. Obviously, all of these things will be discussed.”

Kentucky is in Week 11 and things on offense are still being reassessed. We’ve seen a change at right tackle, the Wildcats finally used Jamarion Wilcox in a featured role at tailback against Tennessee, Kentucky has continually used Wimsatt in a wildcat package, and true freshman Hardley Gilmore IV is beginning to see more playing time. Hamdan and the rest of the offensive staff are searching for answers.

That search will continue this week at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility.

We likely won’t get many answers this week and will have to play the waiting game regarding Vandagriff’s status, but Kentucky is still tinkering with personnel usage and is trying to find ways to be more successful. Kentucky showed more explosiveness in the win against Tennessee.

Will that continue? We will have to play the waiting game.

Second Down: Defense must get healthier

The Kentucky defense has not had a good run since the bye week. Against Tennessee, we saw Brad White‘s unit find a way to get multiple red zone stops but were fairly fortunate that the Vols missed multiple makeable field goals. With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, Tennessee marched 91 yards in 13 plays to turn a three-point game into a two-possession lead and ultimately ended Kentucky’s hopes.

Vanderbilt, Florida, Auburn, and Tennessee have all found a ton of success against a unit that was playing at a top-15 level after five weeks.

• Vanderbilt: 20 points on 7 drives, 53.8% success rate, 5.6 yards per play
• Florida: 41 points on 13 drives, 45.8% success rate, 8.1 yards per play
• Auburn: 24 points on 10 drives, 49.3% success rate, 6.8 yards per play
• Tennessee: 28 points on 13 drives, 55.5% success rate, 5.9 yards per play

Every SEC foe in October has been able to establish a strong level of efficiency and that has led to a ton of scoring opportunities. Kentucky is losing the down-to-down fight and is having issues creating stops. Run defense has been specifically concerning in each game. Kentucky needs better play on defense but this group also needs to get healthy.

Maxwell Hairston, J.J. Weaver, D’Eryk Jackson, and Josaih Hayes were all considered starters when spring practice began. None of them were available against Tennessee. Michigan transfer DJ Waller Jr. was added to the roster after spring practice and expected to compete for a starting job at cornerback. The sophomore was unavailable against Tennessee. Jantzen Dunn, Steven Soles Jr., and Quay’Sheed Scott have each played snaps in Kentucky’s dime package this season. All three were unavailable against Tennessee.

Kentucky is dealing with a long injury list on defense. The Wildcats got redshirt freshman Tavion Gadson back for the first time this season last week but have had to play redshirt freshman Austin Ramsey at defensive tackle to address depth in the last two games. Injuries are an issue right now.

This football team will struggle to win football games without better efficiency but that efficiency might not be feasible until this team gets healthier. The Wildcats need to get some starters back after the bye week.

Third Down: Find another explosive return from Barion Brown

Don’t look snap but Kentucky seems to have flipped their snapping issues in the kickoff operation. Aidan Laros also appears to potentially be turning a corner at punter after his best performance of the season. The arrow appears to be pointing up for Kentucky’s kicking game.

Will we get another game-changing return from Barion Brown in the last three games?

The junior is another Kentucky player dealing with an injury but the current expectation is for the wideout to return to the lineup soon. To begin the Tennessee game, Brown nearly broke the first kickoff return. The Kentucky staff is now starting to use the electric return man more on special teams involving him on punts.

Kentucky is limited on offense and is dealing with some issues on defense. The Wildcats will need to win games by finding wins in high-leverage situations. Brown’s explosive return potential can help flip a game and could be needed against Texas and Louisville.

This is a football team that is all hands on deck at the moment and Brown will need to be maximized in the return game as this season comes to a close.

The week ahead at KSR

Kentucky does not have a game in Week 11 but that does not mean our coverage will stop at KSR. Throughout the week, we will be taking a look back at what awaits this program in the offseason but also focus on what the next three games could look like.

Mark Stoops is scheduled to meet with the media on Wednesday after practice. We will have full coverage of his only scheduled meeting with reporters outside of the weekly teleconference. However, KSR’s podcast lineup is not changing. Stay tuned for the KSR Football Podcast on Monday afternoon and another episode of 11 Personnel on Wednesday night.

The final four weeks of the season have arrived and I have a feeling things will not get boring around here as we move forward.