DEFCON 1: Kentucky
Brock Vandagriff‘s first career start, a 31-0 win over Southern Miss in Week 1, was called on account of lightning midway through the third quarter. His second start was an unmitigated disaster. Looking more like a lamb to the slaughter than an aspiring pro, Vandagriff fell apart in Saturday’s 31-6 loss to South Carolina, finishing 3-for-11 passing for 30 yards in a performance that was as dire in real time as it was on paper. His passer rating (35.2), overall PFF grade (28.8) and Total QBR score (an incredible 1.2, out of a possible 100) ranked dead last among Week 2 starters nationally in all 3 categories.Vandagriff was a wild card coming into the season, but he was supposed to be one of the good kind: A big-time talent just waiting for his shot. At Georgia, he was a major prospect who was widely regarded as the heir apparent to Carson Beck; if Beck had opted to go pro last winter, Vandagriff was the presumptive favorite (from the outside, anyway) to succeed him as the face of the No. 1 team in the country. Of the many questions that followed him to Kentucky, is this guy even playable? wasn’t one of them. But it certainly is now.
Vandagriff’s collapse puts Mark Stoops in a bind. Pulling the plug on a big-ticket transfer after a single game, even a catastrophic one, isn’t tenable. Clearly, though, neither was Vandagriff’s play against the Gamecocks. In his defense, he was under pressure from a relentless South Carolina pass rush on nearly two-thirds of his drop-backs, resulting in 3 sacks, multiple hits and a fumble. Still, per Pro Football Focus he was only 2-for-5 passing for 28 yards when kept clean, and he wasn’t pressured on the pick-6 that ended his afternoon at the start of the fourth quarter (see above).
As late as Saturday morning, this weekend’s tilt with Georgia in Lexington promised the intrigue of an up-and-comer striving to make good on his long-awaited opportunity against his old team. Based on the initial returns on Saturday afternoon, it’s shaping up more like a pending bloodbath. The Wildcats bet the house on Vandagriff, but if they decided to trot Rutgers transfer Gavin Wimsatt to take his lumps instead, no one would blame them. Probably including Vandagriff himself.
Monday Down South: Introducing the QB Panic Index
SEC QB play is all over the place, and it's never too early to panic. Plus: SEC power rankings, player superlatives, insights on Texas and much more from Week 2.
www.saturdaydownsouth.com
