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The Morning After: Recapping Kentucky’s Season Opening Win Over Miami (OH)

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UK Athletics

On Saturday night, the Kentucky Wildcats kicked off the season against the Miami (OH) Redhawks.

On the first drive, the Wildcats fell victim to an efficient 5-minute, 75-yard drive from the Redhawks. However, Will Levis and the offense quickly answered with a two-minute, 79-yard touchdown drive of their own, which started with a 45-yard connection to Tayvion Robinson.

Despite the two quick scores to start the game, neither team could put together any real rhythm to follow that. Kentucky did make it to the red zone three more times, but it resulted in an interception and two field goals as they entered halftime with a 13-10 lead.

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Coming out of the half, Barion Brown returned the kickoff for a touchdown, which was immediately followed by a Miami turnover that Kentucky was able to capitalize on. Just 1 minute and 2 seconds into the third quarter, Kentucky pushed the lead to 27-10.

Kentucky retained that lead fairly easily and extended it over the remainder of the game, winning 37-13.

While it wasn’t the flashy and perfect win the fans were looking for, the Wildcats played through their inexperience and performed much better in the second half, walking out with a 24-point win.

Let’s take a look at some takeaways from the game.

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Replacing Wan’Dale with another good Robinson

Losing Wan’Dale Robinson, who produced the greatest single season for a receiver in Kentucky football history is no easy task, but Virginia Tech transfer Tayvion Robinson looks to be a great replacement.

In his Wildcat debut, Tayvion caught 6 passes on 8 targets for a total of 136 yards – the first 100+ yard game of his career. Not shown on the stat sheet, was his ability to make the big play – similar to Wan’Dale. On multiple occasions, when the Kentucky offense was flat, Tayvion made the big play to give the team momentum.

While Tayvion is not the individual talent that Wan’Dale is, he showed tonight – albeit against an inferior secondary – the potential to be Wan’Dale lite due to his speed and evasion.

Finally using the tight ends

For several seasons, one major complaint of the Kentucky Wildcat offense has been the lack of usage of the tight ends, despite having NFL-level talent at the position.

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At media day, new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello – who comes from a 49ers offense that is heavily reliant on multiple tight-end personnel – talked about the tight ends and was quoted saying, “three or four or five in that room that are going to play on Sundays”.

After the first game, we may get to see more of them.

The first drive ended with a tight-end touchdown, caught by Brenden Bates and redshirt freshman Jordan Dingle had two receptions on his two targets.

I know targets to the tight ends don’t sound like a lot, but most of those came from the first half alone and that is a step up from previous seasons.

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The freshmen receivers are going to be stars

Get used to the name Barion Brown and Dane Key because they are going to be stars at the University of Kentucky.

Both true freshmen have been raved about as they stepped on campus and it didn’t take long for the two to make an impact. In their first game, Key caught four passes for 53 yards and a touchdown, while Brown caught three passes for 45 yards and scored a touchdown on a kickoff return at a much-needed time.

Following the game, Rich Scangarello, Will Levis, and Tayvion Robinson talked all about the duo’s impressive performance, with each of them saying their best football is ahead of them.

It will be interesting to see how bright these future stars shine in Florida next week.

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Chris Rodriguez was missed BADLY

Dating back to Benny Snell, Kentucky has had a running back with the ability to make a play and to provide consistent production, with Chris Rodriguez now in that role. On Saturday night, Kentucky did not have that.

When it was announced that Rodriguez would be missing multiple games, most still assumed that Kentucky would still have success running the ball against inferior competition, but that was certainly not the case.

Kentucky rushed for just 50 yards, which is the lowest since last season’s loss against Mississippi State (66) and just the lowest since a non-Power Five opponent since Eastern Michigan (53) in 2017, another MAC team.

Some of the struggles were at the fault of the offensive line, but there also just isn’t another back similar to Rodriguez on the roster who could make up for some of those mistakes.

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If Kentucky wants to beat Florida next week, they must have a better running attack, and without Rodriguez, that may be a taller task than originally expected.

Line of scrimmage troubles

For several seasons, it has been taken for granted that Kentucky had a talented offensive and defensive line, but with a lack of returning starters and plenty of inexperience, there is cause for concern.

While the receiving core showed the ability to make the best of their opportunities, Will Levis was not consistently given ample time by the offensive line to read the defense and make a play. In fact, the offensive line gave up four sacks for a loss of 26 total yards. As mentioned earlier, the lack of protection was also a factor in the running back struggles, giving up several tackles for loss.

On the defensive side of the ball, Kentucky only allowed six points after Miami’s first drive. However, they failed to get consistent pressure on Miami’s quarterback Brett Gabbert. While the stat sheet does show three sacks, the Wildcats only had one prior to the fourth quarter, in addition to one QB hurry. The rush defense was better, but they allowed Miami several key conversions.

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Things need to improve at the line scrimmage because it is not going to be any easier against SEC competition.

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Kentucky Transfer’s Father Speaks Out Against Kentucky Football Staff

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Destin Wade and Keaten Wade are transferring from Kentucky football.
UK Athletics

Now two days after the the transfer portal has opened, the Kentucky Wildcats have had a dozen players enter. Two of those players are the Wade twins, Destin and Keaten, who committed to Kentucky as a three-star quarterback and 4-star edge in the 2022 class.

The Wade twin’s father, Steve Wade, recently spoke to Maurice Patton of the Main Street Muary, a local Newspaper in Maury County, Tennessee about his sons’ decision to enter the portal.

As for why? “They (Kentucky) didn’t keep their promises up there. We’re not going to go for that,” Steve said. “I’m mainly talking about Destin, not Keaten.”

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Two seasons into each of their collegiate career, one was on a path to success, while the other was not, unfortunately.

Keaten Wade, listed as a 6-foot-5, 250-pound sophomore outside linebacker, collected a total of 51 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a pass deflection in two seasons as a promising piece on the Kentucky defense. Destin Wade (6-3, 223) appeared in just one game at quarterback during his time at Kentucky, going up against Iowa in the Music City Bowl. In the game, he was 16-30 for just 98 yards, threw two pick-sixes, and only advanced in Iowa territory twice on 13 drives, going as far as the 36-yard line.

“They (Kentucky) threw him in that bowl game and never did give him a chance to redeem himself, under circumstances that nobody could have really did anything with, Iowa being the No. 2, No. 3 defense in the country,” Steve said. “We were promised by (Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam) Coen that Destin ‘was too good an athlete to just be sitting on the bench’. We did our part, we trusted in Kentucky to do theirs.”

Bringing in NC State transfer Devin Leary this season, Steve claims that Destin could have been just as good if he was given an opportunity to compete.

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“Destin could have been just as good as that quarterback (Leary) we had this year,” Steve Wade said. “There’s nothing any of those guys sitting in that quarterback room couldn’t have done (that Leary did). They didn’t give him an opportunity to even compete. So we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. He’s got to get on the field somewhere.”

As far as Keaten, Steve was satisfied that he played, but not satisfied that he was not a starter. “They let Keaten play, but he still didn’t get the reps he should have gotten as being a starter,” Steve said.

One reason Steve gives as to why his sons didn’t play as much as they deserved was because of NIL, allowing “worthless” players to get more playing time just because they were paid.

“It makes it that much more difficult for kids that are on scholarship because they’re paying these other guys money to come in — They’re looking for those players to play,” he said. “The school’s going to play those guys, whether they’re worthless or not.

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All the best to the Wade twins and their family, but this is simply some parental delusion as Steve Wade overestimates his sons’ talent.

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Kentucky Receives Commitment from Georgia Transfer QB Brock Vandagriff

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warms up before the start of the SEC Championship game against Alabama at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
© Joshua L. Jones / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Kentucky Wildcats have found their quarterback for next season, and potentially the next two seasons. On Thursday morning, Georgia transfer quarterback Brock Vandagriff announced his commitment to Kentucky, with the caption “Ready to get to work.”

Vandagriff has been a name silently floated around since the end of the season as his sister plays volleyball at Eastern Kentucky and his father has a relationship with Liam Coen.

At Georgia the last three seasons, Vandagriff was a backup and saw limited action. However, he was a backup to some pretty good talent, first to Stetson Bennett who won back-to-back national titles with the Bulldogs, and Carson Beck this season who finished this season fourth nationally in passing yards.

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Before his time at Georgia, Vandagriff was a five-star quarterback in the 2021 class, ranked as the 4th ranked QB overall by 247Sports’ Composite rankings. Holding offers from the top names in college football including Alabama and LSU, Vandagriff had his choice and originally committed to play for Lincoln Riley and Oklahoma before flipping to Georgia.

The talent is clearly there and there are not many better ways to gain preparation than by practicing against one of the best defenses in college football the last three seasons.

Kentucky will also add 2024 four-star Cutter Boley to the QB room for next season and another transfer for depth whom the staff is still searching for. That said, just two days after the portal opened, Kentucky has filled one of their biggest needs, if not the biggest, of this offseason.

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Kentucky Listed As Top Destination for Transfer Quarterbacks

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Fans celebrate at halftime for the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field.
UK Athletics

College football’s version of free agency is about to kick off as the transfer portal officially opens on Monday, December 4th. Over the last three seasons, the transfer portal has proven itself as a way for programs to quickly fill holes in their rosters, especially for teams searching for a quarterback. Last year, a record number of signal callers transferred and this year’s cycle looks to be even more chaotic.

Kentucky is one of the many programs searching for a new quarterback as Devin Leary’s college career will end with Kentucky’s bowl game. According to 247Sports, Lexington is one of the most ten attractive spots for a quarterback to land this offseason. As for their why:

“Liam Coen is the instructor for a quarterback-friendly scheme in Lexington that will have produced two draft picks (once Leary declares and joins Will Levis in the NFL). One encouraging factor for the next starting quarterback for the Wildcats is that he can be confident in the protection in front of him. Mark Stoops expects his offensive linemen to be nasty, people-movers up front and Kentucky allowed only the third-fewest sacks in the SEC.

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With Liam Coen as offensive coordinator, a good offensive line, and talented receivers, Kentucky will be an attractive situation, but must look for a better fit this time around. The staff already has a few targets in mind, and according to some, may already have their guy. Several players have already announced their intentions to enter the portal, and there are more certain to announce over the coming days.

Time will tell who will be behind center for the Wildcats next season. With that said, who would you like to see as Kentucky’s starting quarterback in 2024?

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