SEC Football Snapshots: Important season ahead for Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats
It's preview time, as we're looking ahead to the 2024 college football season with breakdowns of each SEC team. We last looked at the title-favorite Georgia Bulldogs. Next up are the Kentucky Wildcats, who find themselves at an interesting point of Mark Stoops' tenure.
Examining the Kentucky Wildcats' offense
Getting consistently good QB play has been an issue for the Cats throughout the Stoops tenure despite having some talented options. They'll turn to another transfer in former 5-star Brock Vandagriff from Georgia to hopefully resolve that issue. Vandagriff has talent but hasn't shown anything to this point in his career.
Usually UK's QBs have had the pleasure of handing the ball off to a known stud at RB, but that's not the case this season. Ray Davis departs, and Ohio State-transfer Chip Trayanum looks to become a featured rusher for the first time in his career. Vandagriff will have good talent to throw to, however, between returning WRs Dane Key and Barion Brown and North Texas-transfer Ja'Mori Maclin.
After years of elite OL play, the Cats had slipped up front the last two seasons. That should change in '24 with all five starters being upperclassmen with lots of starts under the belts.
Examining the Kentucky Wildcats' defense
Defense has been the calling card for Kentucky for a long time now, but 2023 saw a bit of a step back with 26 points and 354 yards per game allowed. A return to being one of the SEC's better defensive units seems likely in '24.
UK brings back nearly every meaningful contributor and is now loaded with experience. It starts up front with elite nose Deone Walker. He's a monster in the middle, and edge rusher JJ Weaver gives him a complementary pass rusher on the outside. LB Trevin Wallace was the lone major loss, but UK brought-in long-time Georgia-starter Jamon Dumas-Johnson to pair with leading tackler D'Eryk Jackson.
Kentucky had struggles in pass defense last season, but that group is poised to improve. CB Maxwell Hairston was excellent with five INTs in '23, and safety combo Zion Childress and Jordan Lovett can help by taking steps forward.
Thoughts on the Kentucky Wildcats entering 2024
Mark Stoops has reached a crossroads in Lexington. He's had unprecedented success there, and unfortunately, that's hurting him in the eyes of his fanbase. Big Blue Nation wants to see another step forward from annual bowl-eligibility and the occasional 10-win season.
That next step isn't realistic, but fans don't think that way. They don't want to hear "this is literally as good as we can be", even if it's true. That's why back-to-back 7-6 years have been deemed disappointing when a decade ago, fans were begging for those results.
So taking all that into account and combining it with the fact that Stoops publicly tried to leave for Texas A&M, he needs a good season to regain support. Will that happen? He's got the defense for it. If Brock Vandagriff can be the savior UK's been looking for at QB, this team could be good.
The schedule sets up for improvement as well. An early home tilt with UGA and road trips to Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas are brutal. But every other game is winnable. Simply handling business the rest of the way might cool tempers. But Stoops is undoubtedly under heavy scrutiny in '24.