I am running out of negative adjectives to use to describe Kentucky’s week-in, week-out lamentable performances. Even when Kentucky started off the game up 10-0, something felt like that was a mirage ready to fade into nothingness as we approached closer. A pot of fool’s gold at the end of a disappearing rainbow. And it was. Those 10 points were the only points Kentucky scored all day as the offense continued to create more head scratches than it did arm raises.
But if the eye test wasn’t enough for you, let’s once again dive into the advanced analytic grades from the wonks over at Pro Football Focus (PFF) and see if we can extract any deeper meaning behind what was, yet again, another pitiful performance from a group who had high expectations coming into the season.
The backups (and there were lots of them) struggled on offense
Say what you want about Gerald Mincey at right tackle this season, but Kentucky badly missed him on Saturday against Auburn. His replacement, redshirt freshman Malachi Wood out of Richmond, Kentucky, got a rude awakening to the SEC. PFF awarded him a 0.0 pass-block rating, as the young man got beat play after play. You read that correctly. Zero. Point. Zero.
A porous offensive line makes it tough no matter who the quarterback is, but Kentucky’s backup, Gavin Wimsatt, had his share of struggles too. PFF graded him out at 47.1 (and 43.1 in the passing category) while Brock Vandagriff earned a slightly above-average grade of 66.1 (65.2 passing).
This year has to be tough for Vandagriff. He thought he was coming in as the unquestioned QB with an NFL-quality offensive coordinator and now he is forced to run more QB draws than he ever thought and at times, coming out of the game so that his backup can run QB draws. It is hard to be successful when some drives you only get two plays to get a first down considering your backup interrupts your momentum to run for no gain.
Not all the backups struggled. Jamarion Wilcox led the rushing attack in PFF grades and once again showed explosiveness out of the backfield, however, he only played 13 snaps and had fewer rushing attempts than Gavin Wimsatt. At least his shoes stayed on.
Also, a shoutout to Hardley Gilmore IV who had an incredible catch on the sidelines for his first career reception. It helped him earn the best PFF grade on the team, although he only played 10 snaps. Dane Key once again led the Wildcat starters in PFF grades.
Kentucky Offensive Grades and Snap Counts versus Auburn
As for the defense, who knows?
At times this year, Kentucky’s defense has looked impenetrable. On other plays, it looks like they transported from the Kentucky days of old, missing easy would-be tackles and giving up monster runs up the middle. Unfortunately, there was more of the latter than the former against Auburn as Jarquez Hunter roasted the ‘Cats to the tune of 278 yards and a PFF grade of 85.7.
Kentucky’s defense had eight missed tackles against Auburn run plays (10 missed tackles overall) and it showed. On top of that, Kentucky’s best defender of the day, JJ Weaver, had to sit out the second half due to an injury sustained late in the second quarter on a tremendous sack that kept the game tied.
JQ Hardaway is another guy who deserves praise. He and Deone Walker both graded out as best amongst the starters, but in the end, wasn’t enough to slow down the Auburn run game.
It is hard to do much else besides turn into the I-dunno emoji when talking about Kentucky’s defense. It is almost as if the team’s offensive struggles transpose over to the defense as the overall team vibes are just off this year. There’s not much else to do at this point but focus on the next game.
Kentucky Defensive Grades and Snap Counts versus Auburn
