The Swamp in Florida swarmed with mosquitos on Saturday and Kentucky was fresh out of citronella candles. They must have left all their bug spray in Lexington as well because they absorbed bite after bite and bite on the field, never looking comfortable. This was before the Gators swam in and took a big chomp.
Bad analogies aside, Florida smoked Kentucky. It wasn’t pretty throughout, and the few signs of life the team did show on offense was quickly countered by a porous defense.
Nonetheless, let’s take a look at Pro Football Focus’s (PFF) breakdown of player performances and look for anything positive to grasp.
Pass blocking is no longer an excuse
After the South Carolina game, all fingers pointed to the offensive line as the source of Kentucky’s scoring struggles. Since then, there has been steady improvement, but no one has been mistaking this group for the Big Blue Wall of yesteryear. The lack of pass blocking, specifically, has been the excuse for why Brock Vandagriff has looked so uncomfortable in the pocket.
Against Florida, pass-blocking can’t be an excuse. Four different linemen (including three starters), Eli Cox, Jalen Farmer, Dylan Ray, and the much-maligned Gerald Mincey all had pass-block grades in the 80s. Those are tremendously strong ratings, as they gave Vandagriff plenty of time to operate.
When he did operate, he operated almost exclusively with Dane Key. As a result, Key was the highest overall graded starter, which is good, but Vandagriff often would force a pass to a double-covered Key instead of passing it to a more open tertiary receiver.
Jamarion Wilcox topped all players in grades with still somewhat mediocre 73.9, but he also lost his shoe again on one of his explosive runs, so it is hard to say what is going on there.
Kentucky Offensive Grades and Snap Counts versus Florida
The defense put up one of its weakest performances of the year
Just when Kentucky would give fans a dash of hope on Saturday, the defense was there to allow another Florida touchdown, thwarting any type of meaningful comeback effort. The lack of excellence was across the board.
JJ Weaver was the only starter to grade 70 or above, and he finished at exactly 70.0. For those unfamiliar with PFF grades, that’s not great. Kentucky’s secondary especially struggled, as both starting cornerbacks finished with below-average grades in the 50s.
Get well soon, Maxwell Hairston.
Overall it was a messy performance from top to bottom. There is nothing left to do from here but try to erase the last two weeks from the memory banks and get the season turned back around with the goal of making a bowl game.
On to the next one.
Kentucky Defensive Grades and Snap Counts versus Florida
