It is no secret that the Kentucky football team, more specifically the offense, has underperformed in a huge way in 2022. That is with a projected first-round quarterback prospect, one of the best running backs in school history, and some very talented receivers.
Coming off a very impressive offensive season in 2021, under the direction of now Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator, Liam Coen, the Wildcats averaged 32.3 points and 425 yards of total offense per game.
In 2022, Kentucky was supposed to carry the momentum toward a historical season under new offensive coordinator, Rich Scangarello, who Mark Stoops referred to as a “football genius”.
However, that has been far from the case, but just how far?
After this past week, the Wildcats are ranked last in the SEC in total yards by more than 100 yards. Even when they can move the ball, they are struggling to get points in the red zone. In fact, Kentucky is ranked 98th out of 131 schools with a 79.5 percent conversion rate.
As much as this is frustrating to fans, it is also frustrating to the players.
In this week’s press conference to preview Georiga, freshman wide receiver, Dekel Crowdus, had a very interesting answer when talking about why the offense has struggled in the red zone this year.
“Probably, I would have to say the play-caller, because we were down in the red zone and just couldn’t get it. That’s pretty much all I can say,” Crowdus said.
This comment is one of the most disconcerting things to come out of the locker room in recent seasons, and while Crowdus voiced his discontent, other players’ body language has shown the same in recent weeks. When your own players do not trust the play caller and are not scared to make that public, it’s a huge issue that’s incredibly hard to fix in a locker room.
Following a loss that will set the program back and Crowdus’ comments, Scangarello’s job security is low and he is coaching to keep it against Georgia and Louisville.
With that said, Kentucky will need to fill several key offensive positions via the transfer portal and that is difficult to do with uncertainty around the staff.
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