COLUMN: Scangarello's Fate Sealed After Dreadful Vanderbilt Loss
It seems as though the fate of first-year offensive coordinator Rich Scanagrello was sealed on Saturday afternoon in the eyes of Big Blue Nation following the Wildcats' 24-21 loss to Vanderbilt.
Head coach Mark Stoops after the game said that he wasn't considering any coaching staff changes mid-season, but he did have this to say about the struggles that have consumed the Cats' roster:
"There is only one way out. There is no way to point fingers or anything like that. We know there are issues, things to be addressed. That will happen at the appropriate time. And then there is work. That's it. You just got to go back and work and try to get better in every area."
It doesn't exactly take a genius to put two and two together there. Against a team that allows nearly 40 points a night, Kentucky was able to muster just 21 points on two touchdowns and three field goals.
Frankly, there's no excuses for what transpired at Kroger Field on Saturday. It was as old-school UK football as it gets, and that sure isn't a good thing.
“It’s highly disappointing," Scangarello said after the loss. "We had a really good week of practice, we look efficient, we feel ready to go and it’s as simple as you make one more play to score a touchdown early in the game and everything feels different. I was happy that we responded with two scoring drives after they took the lead in the second half, but we can’t wait till the second half to wake up. It’s not acceptable.”
There are many places you could point the finger towards, but it all circles back to Scangarello.
Will Levis had one of his more forgettable performances, managing just 109 passing yards on 11 completions. The offensive line was atrocious one again, allowing four more sacks and denying any momentum on that side of the football for four quarters. The play-calling was as uninspiring as ever, there are no real positives to take away from the loss. It's all bad.
“I am very surprised. I had high expectations to throw the ball today,” Scangarello said. “Sometimes the flow of the game, the weather, things like that. It was limited possessions — they had long possessions, we had some long possessions — all of a sudden you’re in a game where you have eight total possessions and you better make them count. We didn’t in the passing game.”
Scangarello is surprised, and while most had given up on the UK offense, it was still surprising to those people as well, because surely managing points against the Commodores shouldn't be a challenge, right?
Wrong. There is no short-term answer to the issues that have plagued the offense all season. It's all gone wrong, and that's the way it's seemingly going to stay for the last two games of the regular season.
"I get it. I understand the frustration. I have the same frustration," Scangarello said. "It's hard when you don't always have good pass protection or you miss an assignment at receiver ... we're not making enough big plays."
"I think every game has its own reasons, I don't want to make excuses for it," he added. "Just not efficient, it's got to be better."
Kentucky had multiple chances in the Vanderbilt red zone, but was unable to capitalize on six points, unless you wanted it to come via a pair of field goals. Red zone scoring hadn't been an issue for Scangarello's offense through a majority of the season, but even that's faltered too.
The efficiency is out of the window. Will Levis getting 100 percent healthy and that truly making a difference is out of the window. Fighting for decent bowl contention is out of the window. Improvement from the offensive line...yeah, also out of the window.
“This game will humble you. Every game is hard to win,” Scangarello said. “You can never take anything for granted and you gotta be your best in every moment that counts. If you’re not, it’s going to go this way. It was a see-saw game and we didn’t come out on top.”
Unfortunately for Scangarello and that see-saw, I don't know that it's going to tip back in Kentucky's favor any time soon.
More on the stunning loss to the Commodores here.
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