Current Wildcat Building Chemistry with Receivers

One of the questions surrounding this Kentucky team isn't really the defense. We know about all of the depth and experience there, with a unit that looks very good on paper. It's more of the uncertainty of the offense with a new quarterback in Brock Vandagriff and new Offensive Coordinator in Brock Vandagriff. So far, the chemistry has been building very well with Vandagriff and his receivers.

In his first weekly Monday press conference as the first game of the season approaches on Saturday, head coach Mark Stoops touched on how Vandagriff is looking. “I think a big thing that we talk a lot about is making the routine, routine. With him, you just continue to operate smoothly, continue to make good decisions, and continue to make the simple look simple, and the routine look routine," Stoops said. "If a guy is open, hit him, and catch and run, protect the football, and do the basics. If we continue to do a lot of little things, big things will happen."

How is the chemistry looking between Vandagriff and his receivers, namely Barion Brown? They've worked very hard on building that connection all summer, and Stoops hopes it pays off. "I think Brock is certainly a guy that’s in there all the time, always working at it. If you look at the way we do things now, the turnover of roster I don’t think maybe it’s as big of a situation as it was, five years ago if you will, because you’re teaching a lot of new guys anyway, and I also think what helps is (being) able to spend more time (with the players). I hope that pays dividends. I’ve said that before and I hope it’s true. I think we’ve spent a lot of time," Stoops said. "I like the way Bush teaches, I feel like the players can pick that up very well. Not only with Barion (Brown) and Dane (Key), but you add Ja’Mori (Maclin) and you add Fred (Farrier), two guys that are very important and very good players that constantly show up in practice. It’s a pretty good statement. You mix in AB (Anthony Brown-Stephens), and Brandon White has had a minor injury for a week or so, and hopefully we’ll get him back to full tilt as well because he brings another dynamic that’s pretty good, so we’ve got to get them all on the same page.”

It's not just wide receivers who are weapons for the transfer from Georgia, but it's also the tight end room, which Stoops likes the group as a whole. “It's a good group, there is some experience in there," Stoops said. "(Josh) Kattus is a guy, you just want him healthy and I think that is something we have to protect him a little bit and just make sure he is ready to go. Jordan (Dingle) is a guy we have a lot of confidence in, Khamari (Anderson), you want to see growth out of him. The other one that showed up in camp that we think can contribute was Willie Rodriguez, a guy that has shown us and done some good things.” As far as Stoops' comment on Kattus, that could be something to monitor on Saturday and going forward.

Vandagriff seems to have a lot of weapons at his disposal, and it's looking like he's building really good chemistry already with a lot of them. The Wildcats play their first game of the season on Saturday night against Southern Miss in Kroger Field.