By Mark Pszonak
Some say that Kentucky has been inconsistent this season, but after their toothless loss at home to Auburn on Saturday, it is time to realize that the Wildcats just aren’t a good football team. A season that started with plenty of optimism is lost and now it is time to try and figure out why it happened and how quickly it can be fixed.
Calling the Wildcats inconsistent made some sense after they narrowly lost to Georgia and won at Ole Miss. However, since then they’ve lost three straight to Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn by a combined score of 92-43, which makes that victory in Oxford a month ago more of a miracle than an inconsistency.
And this season will only get worse from here, with trips to Tennessee and Texas remaining on the conference schedule and a home game against Louisville.
So, why is Kentucky in this position? The defense doesn’t deserve a pass, since allowing an average of 30+ points to Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn is nothing to be proud of, but its performance has been award-winning compared to the offense. And that lies with head coach Mark Stoops and more specifically new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan, who was hired in February.
Hamdan arrived with the offensive cupboard far from empty. Wide receivers Barion Brown and Dane Key are dynamic talents who combined for 85 receptions, 1,175 yards and 10 touchdowns last season. Then more talent was added to the receiving room via the portal with Jay Maclin (North Texas) and Fred Farrier II (UAB).
To finish their offensive puzzle, the Wildcats also dipped into the portal for their quarterback, Brock Vandagriff, who was a highly rated high school recruit but wanted a change of scenery after not getting significant playing time with Georgia.
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The result has been an offense that hasn’t scored more than 20 points in an SEC game, the only team to not do so, and an offense that is ranked #119th in total offense and #124th in passing offense.
Coach Stoops went as far as benching Vandagriff in the second half on Saturday in favor of Gavin Wimsatt, a transfer from Rutgers, who has now completed 46.3% of his collegiate passes after going 3 of 10 for 34 yards and an interception against the Tigers.
This isn’t where the Wildcats thought they’d be this season.
And because of this, Coach Stoops’ future in Lexington is realistically in doubt. I didn’t think it would be before the loss to Auburn, but with a 4-8 season staring at the Wildcats and with patience being a long-gone virtue in college football, a coaching change is possible.
Coach Stoops has done a great deal for Kentucky since his arrival prior to the 2013 season. He is the all-time winningest coach in the program’s history and has brought the Wildcats to a bowl game every season since 2016. But in 2024, none of this means very much.
Most problematic is that there are no clear answers to fix Kentucky’s situation if they keep Coach Stoops. If he is brought back, replacing Coach Hamdan is a foregone conclusion. But the quarterback position will remain a huge question mark and now the Wildcats will likely have to try and fix the offense without Brown and Key, who will both be NFL Draft eligible or may enter the portal to find a more stable quarterback situation.
Kentucky has some serious decisions to make in the next couple of months, but whatever they decide the upcoming road looks to be filled with potholes.
