Football

BREAKING: Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw out at Kentucky

Published

4 years ago

December 6, 2020

They say “third times a charm,” well that isn’t the case when it comes to offensive coordinators at Kentucky under Mark Stoops. After four seasons in Lexington, Eddie Gran has been relieved of his offensive coordinator duties, as well as QB’s coach Darin Hinshaw.

As we all know, rumors about coaching changes have been looming for about a week now, and fans have been displeased with Gran’s job on the sideline for awhile now.

Even though there has been a lot of frustration centered around Gran’s play-calling the past couple years, overall, he was pretty successful at Kentucky. He had four different QB’s in his time here and all of them at one point succeeded.

He had a promising QB in Drew Barker, who shined against Southern Miss in a new system, then he got hurt and Gran had to adjust to a completely different QB in Stephen Johnson, who was pretty successful in his time at Kentucky. Then Terry Wilson took over in 2018 and led Kentucky to a 10-win season. The next season, Wilson was injured in the second game of the year and ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL. Gran had to come up with a new gameplay for incoming transfer Sawyer Smith, who had never played a down of SEC competition. He was really successful, until his injury. Then, maybe Gran’s best accomplishment at Kentucky, he took Lynn Bowden, a QB turned WR at Kentucky, and once again made him a QB. Bowden led the Cats to an 7-win regular season and a bowl victory over Virginia Tech.

Now, there have been a lot of complaints over the past couple seasons about Gran’s odd, conservative play calling, and the “don’t lose” style of play when the Cats take a big leads, which has lost Kentucky plenty of games, and his inability to “open up” the offense. Trust me, I have been aggravated plenty of times with it and have shouted some choice words from the stands. However, Eddie Gran did a good job here. We as Kentucky fans wanted 8-win seasons consistently when Stoops got here, and Kentucky has done nothing but that since Gran’s time here.

I think we all know the real problem here, but I do think it was time for Gran to go. The style of play won’t fit without the big blue wall and Kentucky is going to need to change its style of play to contend in the East. We’ve already seen a talented WR recruit decommmit, current and former players express their frustration on social media, and a former WR coach express his opinions about the real problem with the offense on social media. Once again, I think we all know the real problem here.

But, simply put, the style of play had become old with fans and players, which doesn’t equal anything good, and we saw that toward the end of this season.

Who will the Cats hire? I don’t think anyone knows yet. I would expect names to be mentioned in the coming weeks.

Football

Thousands of Dollars in Theft Reported at Kentucky-Georgia Game

Published

20 hours ago

September 18, 2024

Tristan Pharis

During the Kentucky-Georgia football game, fans reported multiple vehicle break-ins amounting to thousands of dollars in stolen property.

Chet White | UK Athletics

While Kentucky was battling No. 1 Georgia in Kroger Field on Saturday, multiple fans had their vehicles broken into. Following the game, University of Kentucky police received multiple reports of break-ins.

According to WKYT, five vehicles were broken into during the game. Fans reported that windows were shattered and that purses, electronics, and debit cards were stolen. One of the victims, who made the trip to the game from Pennsylvania, claims that an estimated $7,000 worth of items were stolen from her truck while it was parked in the purple lot.

While UK police say they patrol lots during the game with bike officers, the victims say they did not see security after the game when they noticed shattered glass by their vehicles.

UK Police Chief had this message for fans. “Lock your valuables up. Put them in an area, a trunk, or something people will not see very easily. Don’t leave them laying out. That’s going to make you an easy target.”

If you plan to attend Kentucky games this season, please be vigilant and store away and valuables to where they cannot be seen.

Football

Thirteen Players Listed on Kentucky Injury Report, Includes Brock Vandagriff and Maxwell Hairston

Published

5 days ago

September 14, 2024

Tristan Pharis

Kentucky Wildcats struggled against South Carolina in a 31-6 loss, and so did quarterback Brock Vandagriff

Starting this season, the SEC implemented a new policy requiring teams to provide availability reports for conference games. The initial report is published on Wednesday and comes with daily updates, with the final report coming 90 minutes before kickoff. Players must listed as: out (0% chance to play), doubtful (25% chance to play), questionable (50% chance to play), or probable (75% chance to play),

Going up against No. 1 Georgia, the Wildcats had 13 players listed on this week’s report and will not be at full strength with several key names featured, starting with the quarterback.

After not being featured in the initial injury report, Vandagriff was listed as “probable” when it was updated on Thursday. No details of the injury have been reported, but after getting hit as much as he did last week against South Carolina, it is no surprise that he is a bit banged up. Listed as “probable”, he is likely to play.

More concerning though is preseason All-American Maxwell Hairston and OL Gerald Mincey. Both were initially listed as probable, but were downgraded to questionable on Friday, with just a 50% chance to play on Saturday.

Looking at the rest of the report, many of the injures came during the offseason or fall camp. However, guard Jager Burton and running back Jason Patterson were added as “out” this week.

Georgia has four players out, including first-round prospect Mykel Williams.

Football

Kentucky QB Brock Vandagriff Ready to Take on His Former Team the No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs, “Welcoming the Challenge”

Published

6 days ago

September 13, 2024

Devon Hunt

Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff will have the opportunity to face his former team the Georgia Bulldogs, and make a statement.

Grace Smith-UK Athletics | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff is set to face off against his former team on Saturday, the Georgia Bulldogs. Competing against not just his former team, but also the No. 1 team in the country in his third career start is a tough task. However, he and the rest of the offense welcome the challenge.

“We’re welcoming the challenge,” Vandargriff said after practice on Wednesday. “At the end of the day, it’s the same game, the same rules, all that kind of stuff.”

Spending three years in Athens before transferring to Kentucky, the familiarity with the Georgia defense may provide some internal comfort for Vandagriff. The Bogart, Georgia native has had extensive practice reps against the stout defense, which has included 17 draft picks over the last three seasons. Similarly, that defensive unit has also defended against Vandagriff in practice.

During his time as a Bulldog, Vandagriff was roommates with Chaz Chambliss, Cash Jones, and Brock Bowers and built lifetime friendships with them. “We called it the B’s and the C’s: me and Brock vs. Cash and Chaz,” Vandagriff said. Those relationships continue to this day with a group chat.

Vandragriff said he also still talks a lot with former teammate and Heisman candidate Carson Beck, valuing his friendship. When Beck was asked about Vandagriff earlier this week, he said, “I’ll probably give him a text this week.” Beck continued, “He’s a great friend of mine. Maybe not so much Saturday.”

Setting aside those relationships and making a crucial statement on the field will be key for Vandagriff on Saturday as a strong offensive showing can go a long way to reinvigorate the fanbase. You would have to believe that he relishes the opportunity to prove himself on a national level, against his former team.