Monday Huddle: Fight-or-Flight

Kentucky’s SEC home slate in 2024 is officially over. The Wildcats went winless at Kroger Field in league games for the first time since 2013 and are now just 2-11 in home games against conference competition in their last 13 outings. That storyline can mostly be put to rest until the 2025 season arrives.

That’s the only good news for this football program heading into Week 10. The Wildcats (3-5, 1-5) are not in a good place entering the final stretch of the season.

Kentucky is playing for nothing memorable this November, and odds are very high that a program-record eight consecutive bowl games will come to an end in 2024. In many ways, we are all waiting for December to see what kind of changes are in store, but we have to get through these next four games first.

KSR will be here to cover the next four games to see what Mark Stoops, his coaching staff, and team can put together over the last month of the season. Monday Huddle begins another football week in the Bluegrass.

Will the Cats respond or are a bunch more double-digit losses with no answers on either side of the football on the way?

First Down: Do we have a QB controversy?

The Kentucky offense has a lot of problems. In the first season under offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, this unit is averaging 19.1 points per game. That would be the worst finish of the Mark Stoops era. Kentucky has a ton of problems, but the quarterback didn’t really feel like one.

That changed against Auburn when Stoops and Hamdan hit the backup quarterback button at halftime.

We saw Rutgers transfer Gavin Wimsatt get his first extended run at quarterback in the SEC and the results were not great. The redshirt junior got three series completing 3-of-9 passes for 34 yards, taking one sack, and throwing an interception on fourth down in the low red zone. Wimsatt did add 24 non-sack rushing yards on five attempts, but the offense posted a zero percent success rate in the third quarter and again failed to finish a drive in the red zone.

Wimsatt’s sample size is small, but Brock Vandagriff has better number across the board, and Wimsatt’s career passing numbers at Rutgers (46.6% completion rate, 5.6 yards per attempt, 14 touchdowns, 17 interceptions) were not super promising and we’ve seen a higher ceiling with Vandagriff.

What is next after Kentucky pulled the backup quarterback lever?

Mark Stoops will miss his scheduled Monday press conference due to his mother’s funeral, but the media will get to speak with Hamdan. However, I’m not sure we will get any definitive answers on the quarterback situation. This entire season has been very much tied to Kentucky committing to Brock Vandagriff and riding with the transfer this season in hopes that a big second year leap could arrive in 2025.

Is that plan over now?

Kentucky’s offense feels like it is very much in no man’s land as injuries pile up, the offensive line remains a huge weakness, and no one outside of Dane Key is becoming a consistent pass catcher. This group’s problems are bigger than the quarterback, but now we are unsure what direction the program will go at the sport’s most important position.

A clunky operation just got a lot messier with a pair of top-10 defenses left on the schedule.

Second Down: The defensive slippage is real

Kentucky has built an identity under defensive coordinator Brad White. The Wildcats fit the run well and do not give up very many explosive plays. That has kept this team in a ton of games and delivered some high moments for the program.

The Wildcats have lost their identity over the last three games.

Vanderbilt produced a 48.4 percent rushing success rate on 31 carries for 179 non-sack yards on 5.8 yards per rush. That allowed a methodical option offense to consistently play ahead of the chains. Florida produced a 51.2 percent rushing success rate on 41 carries for 208 non-sack yards on 5.0 yards per rush. That down-to-down success helped open up the vertical passing game for true freshman quarterback DJ Lagway.

After teetering on disaster, the bottom completely fell out against Auburn.

Future NFL running back Jarquez Hunter rushed for 278 yards on 23 carries as Auburn rolled up 361 non-sack rushing yards as a team on 8.4 yards per rush with a 58.1 percent rushing success rate. Kentucky’s pass defense only allowed three explosive plays for 66 yards on 30 pass plays, but that did not matter because this defense’s biggest strength has now become a weakness.

The Wildcats entered the season with some depth concerns on the defensive line as Josaih Hayes, Darrion Henry-Young, and Tavion Gadson were all expected to miss if not the full season. Those were three players expected to be in the rotation. Kentucky showed no signs of needing that depth, but that has gone away since the bye week.

Keeshawn Silver and Deone Walker each appeared on last week’s injury report. Silver has appeared on multiple availability reports this season. To contribute to the run game woes, off-ball linebacker D’Eryk Jackson also played through injury last week and did not receive his normal snap count volume. First or second-year players Kendrick Gilbert, Tommy Ziesmer, and Jerod Smith II all received extended playing time on Saturday as Kentucky looks to supplement the position. Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Austin Ramsey even received snaps at nose tackle as this group looks for answers.

Kentucky’s offensive issues are well documented, but this program is built for this defense to be a team strength and to be a big reason why this program wins games. That played out in the big win against Ole Miss and was the No. 1 reason why UK had a terrific shot to defeat Georgia. The defensive front winning the line of scrimmage battle played a huge role in that. Without that and multiple injuries for starters piling up, a strength is becoming a weakness.

That could create an ugly end to the season. Some more big rushing performances could be on the way, and that is not a good development.

Third Down: How much fight is left?

Kentucky has pulled the backup quarterback card, and a youth movement at right tackle didn’t exactly work against Auburn. The Wildcats having difficulty finding any level of consistency in the passing game, and the rushing attack reached a low point in the first game without Demie Sumo-Karngbaye. You have to wonder at this point aboout the state of the locker room and if there is still true belief in the scheme and overall plan of the offense.

Injuries are piling up on defense as the Wildcats have allowed 85 points over the last three SEC games. Out of nowhere, Kentucky can no longer stop the run and is getting blistered by explosive plays. Brad White’s defense has not forced multiple takeaways against a power conference foe since last year’s Louisville win.

Nothing is working right now. We’re not sure Kentucky has the answers to fix some of the problems. The offense has some legitimate issues (both current and big picture) and the injuries are becoming a real factor on defense. Arguably Kentucky’s three best players (Maxwell Hairston, Deone Walker, D’Eryk Jackson) were on a pitch count or couldn’t play against Auburn. It’s hard to envision how this thing gets better.

But we know it can probably get worse. The decrease in production will really show up if Kentucky cannot dig their heels in and decide to scratch and claw their way out of this funk. Throughout the season, Mark Stoops has not had any answers to why his team is performing under expectations and continually making massive critical mistakes. That seems like a sign that Kentucky’s culture could be deteriorating.

If that culture is broken, we could see a very ugly end to a season that has more than a handful of draft picks on the roster. Are the Cats going to fight or throw the white towel?

The week ahead at KSR

The penultimate conference game of the season has arrived, and KSR will provide the Big Blue Nation with in-depth pregame content from now until kickoff arrives on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.

We will have full coverage of Monday’s press conference with Bush Hamdan and Brad White as Kentucky’s coordinators take over for Mark Stoops during his bereavement leave. From there, practice reports and podcasts will take over as Saturday approaches. Our first availability report of the week will drop on Wednesday where we will learn the status of Maxwell Hairston, Chip Trayanum, DJ Waller Jr., and J.J. Weaver. The latter two were knocked out of the game against Auburn and did not return to the lineup.

At KSR+, our in-depth scouting report on Tennessee will go live on Thursday along with some more pregame content. A 1-7 finish in conference play now looks likely for the Wildcats.

Want more Kentucky football intel? Join KSR Plus for the most comprehensive coverage of the Cats on the internet. With a KSR membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Will things get worse for this football program before they get better? It certainly feels like we are headed in that direction as the final month of season begins.