Kentucky’s offensive woes run much deeper than QB struggles, point to troubling trend under Mark Stoops

Kentucky is off to its worst start in SEC play (1-5) since 2013, when it started 0-6 and finished the year without a conference win. It’s also in danger of missing out on a bowl game for the first time since 2015, which would snap a program-record eight consecutive years with a postseason appearance. One doesn’t have to dive too deeply to find the origin of the Wildcats’ woes. They are also averaging 19.1 points per game, which ranks last in the SEC and marks their fewest points per game through eight games in 13 years. 

For the third straight season, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has hitched his wagon to a transfer quarterback — this time in Brock Vandagriff, who joined the Wildcats after three years as a backup at Georgia with just 21 collegiate passing attempts to his name. 

Whether it’s inexperience or the fact that Vandagriff simply isn’t as effective as both high school and transfer rankings may have suggested, the move has not worked out. Kentucky is averaging 166.1 passing yards per game — good for last in the SEC. 

Vandagriff has tossed just six touchdowns — fewer than one per game — to five interceptions. Things reached an inflection point in a Week 9 loss to Auburn when Vandagriff was benched for Rutgers transfer Gavin Wimsatt in the second half. 

Wimsatt subsequently completed just three of his 10 passes for 34 yards and an interception. As a team, Kentucky has six passing touchdowns and nine interceptions. Neither Vandagriff nor Wimsatt have shown that they can elevate the team. Kentucky’s only other realistic option is a true freshman in Cutter Boley, and with a road trip to No. 7 Tennessee coming up on Saturday, that isn’t the ideal time to hand him his first career start. 

The thing is, lackluster quarterback play isn’t new for the Wildcats. Kentucky hasn’t finished in the top half of the SEC in passing since 2015. The Wildcats have never had a quarterback top the 3,000-yard mark in a season under Stoops.

In the past, Kentucky built its offenses to work without an elite signal-caller. Kentucky used a strong offensive line to open holes in the running game coupled with a quarterback who could play within the system, make the easy throws and keep the chains moving. The Wildcats won with a run-first mentality and mauling play along the line of scrimmage.  

Here’s a look at Kentucky’s three best years with Stoops at the helm — including 2021, despite the fact that the program had to vacate its wins — and how the Wildcats did running the ball: 

Kentucky’s offensive line was so good from 2016-21 that fans lovingly christened it the “Big Blue Wall.” In the three years since 2021, the Wildcats are averaging 128.6 yards per game on the ground. That’s good for bottom-three in the SEC, alongside the likes of South Carolina and Mississippi State. 

So, it certainly isn’t fair to lay all of Kentucky’s offensive struggles on the quarterback. Especially when the offensive line is equally as ineffective in the pass game. Kentucky has surrendered 20 sacks thus far, which ranks 100th out of 133 FBS teams. 

Again, this is where Stoops’ declining development and over-reliance on the transfer portal comes into play. Five transfers have played a significant role on their offensive line in 2024. Jager Burton and Eli Cox are the only two consistent starters on the line who signed with Kentucky out of high school. 

Kentucky’s leading rusher, Demie Sumo-Karngbaye, is a former transfer who’s averaging fewer than 60 yards per game. Jamarion Wilcox signed with Kentucky in 2023 and has shown some flash when given the opportunity, but he only has 39 carries. 

This decline in offensive development, predictably, has led to a decline in on-field results. And it doesn’t seem like things will get better anytime soon. The withering Wildcats now have to face a Tennessee defense that ranks top-five nationally in most major categories. The Vols are the only FBS team to hold each of their opponents under 20 points thus far. 

If the Wildcats drop to 3-6, it would be their worst start to a full season under Stoops since 2013, when he guided Kentucky to 2-10 in his first year leading the program (Kentucky was 3-6 through nine games during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign). It would also mark the earliest that Kentucky has reached six losses in the entire Stoops tenure (it didn’t drop to 3-6 in 2013 until Nov. 9). 

Where would Kentucky go from that point? The Wildcats certainly wouldn’t move on from Stoops. He is one of the greatest coaches in school history. His buyout hovers somewhere in the $40 million range and the university already had to deal with a recent — and major — coaching transition when basketball’s John Calipari left for Arkansas. 

Still, the pressure is on for Stoops to find some answers. Missing out on the postseason this year, especially with offensive trends steadily tumbling downwards, would add some heat to the 2025 campaign.