Kentucky football stock watch: Despite offseason moves, the offensive line has regressed

The weekly Kentucky football stock watch takes a look at what’s trending up and down after an abysmal performance in a 31-6 loss to South Carolina.

STOCK DOWN: Offensive line

UK’s offensive line posted obvious improvements from a disastrous 2022 season to 2023, but Mark Stoops was clearly still not satisfied with the performance of the position.

So, when former UK assistant Eric Wolford became available following the retirement of Nick Saban at Alabama, Stoops elected to fire UK offensive line coach Zach Yenser (despite signing him to a one-year contract extension in December). Bringing Wolford, who had left UK on bad terms after the 2021 season, back to Lexington was the biggest move in an offensive line makeover that also included the additions of SEC transfers Gerald Mincey (Tennessee) and Jalen Farmer (Florida).

Add in the return of four starters on the line, and there was no shortage of preseason optimism about further improvements from that unit.

So, how could the pass protection have been so bad against South Carolina?

“We watched their game last week and we knew they had some guys up front that could wreck some plays,” Stoops said. “We were concerned about that going into it and knowing that we need to chip and protect our tackles from time to time. There are things we could do better with that. We have to play better. I thought, full disclosure, some calls I wish we could do over again.”

Even in UK’s weather-shortened opening win over Southern Miss there were some signs of worry from the pass protections.

Quarterback Brock Vandagriff was not sacked in that game, but he was pressured three times. The difference was that against Southern Miss Vandagriff had enough time to move around the pocket or scramble out of trouble before finding an open receiver.

Against South Carolina, Vandagriff had no such time. He was sacked four times, including on three consecutive plays across two drives.

“It starts on first down,” center Eli Cox said. “You can’t put yourself in third-and-medium, especially in the SEC, pass rushers everywhere. When you get yourself in third-and-medium, you’re not efficient on first down, you give them a chance to sub four or five pass rushers and create one-on-ones, and that’s not sustainable in any game, anyone you play. Having to consistently beat elite pass rushers that are in the SEC, often you can’t bank a game on that. It’s very difficult to do no matter who’s playing offensive line.

“So I think it starts with us putting our heads down, being more efficient on first and second down to keep us out of that situation, and then when we do get in it, just better execution, better communication. And got to win your one-on-ones.”

The pass protection woes against South Carolina were further complicated by injuries that sidelined right tackle Mincey and left guard Jager Burton for part of the game. Mincey was able to return, but Burton is unlikely to be back in time to face No. 1 Georgia, Stoops said after the game.

UK first tried junior-college transfer Anfernee Crease to fill in for Mincey, but South Carolina immediately exploited his inexperience. Former starter Dylan Ray, who is primarily a guard, took over at right tackle before sliding to left guard when Mincey returned and Burton was injured on a field goal attempt.

“You got to just make sure you continue to build guys,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said. “I think there are certain guys that certainly you’d like to give them three, four more games and opportunities to bring them along slowly, but it’s the next-man-up philosophy right now and it’s their time to get going. And we’ll get them ready.”

STOCK DOWN: Brock Vandagriff

The pass protection struggles have to be taken into account when evaluating Vandagriff’s performance against South Carolina, but even when the Georgia transfer did have time to throw he too often locked in on one receiver and appeared worried about the pass rush.

“I’m sure we’ll figure some stuff out (in pass protection), but it comes down to me being able to move around and stuff,” Vandagriff said, “I pride myself on being able to get out of the pocket when I need to and things of that sort. Just got to play better. The O-line played fine today. It wasn’t on them. It was more on me.”

The fact that Vandagriff was willing to hoist the blame on himself after completing just 3 of 10 passes for 32 yards rather than pointing fingers at teammates speaks well of his leadership, but actual improvements will be needed from both the offensive line and quarterback.

Entering the season, Vandagriff was a mystery since he had barely played in three years at Georgia. Was the former five-star recruit simply blocked by elite quarterbacks in Athens or had he failed to win the starting job because he turned out not to be as good as his recruiting hype suggested?

Two weeks into the season, there are worries it was the latter. Now Vandagriff has to right the ship against his former teammates.

“This guy’s a mature kid,” Hamdan said of Vandagriff. “He is, and he understands that he’s been in this league for a long, long time again. We got to watch this film. We got to take a big jump. We understand what happened today, just one thing after another.

“So, just got to get back to work.”

STOCK UP: Demie Sumo-Karngbaye

Finding a positive from an all-systems failure like the South Carolina loss is no easy task, but Sumo-Karngbaye at least continued to impress as the Wildcats’ starting running back.

The former N.C. State transfer, who split time between slot receiver and running back in his first season at Kentucky in 2023, totaled 70 yards on 17 carries. Through two games, he is averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

“He is a guy that has been very steady,” Stoops said. “He works hard. He ran the ball very tough today. He had some tough yards. I think we were efficient at times running the ball downhill. We have to get the balance that I talked about. When you drop back to pass you have to be able to protect, get the ball down the field.

“When you can run the ball downfield, it’s going to open up some play-action if you can get it protected.”

Even with Sumo-Karngbaye’s respectable showing, Kentucky’s rushing attack in short-yardage situations remains a concern.

While the outcome was still in doubt, UK attempted runs on three third downs of 4 yards or shorter and converted just one. The Wildcats were also stopped on a fourth-and-1 quarterback dive attempt.

The offensive line shares blame in those situations, but Sumo-Karngbaye or another running back needs to prove capable of converting when the entire stadium knows a run is coming as long as Ohio State transfer Chip Trayanum is sidelined by a hand injury.

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