Brock o'Clock: When is the right time for the Kentucky QB to slide?

Before we ever saw Brock Vandagriff take a snap at quarterback for the Kentucky Wildcats, his former Georgia teammates shed a little light on his game. Of all the tools in his arsenal, one thing stood out: “Brock’s not a slider.”

During his first series of the 2024 season, Vandagriff confirmed that he is in fact not a slider.

The athletic Kentucky quarterback used his legs to move the chains, but he took a few hard shots in the process. You could feel the collective sigh from the crowd when he a couple of those hits.

QB runs can electrify an offense. They also are dangerous. Kentucky can’t afford to lose its starting quarterback. For Vandagriff, it’s all about striking the right balance.

“There’s a part where you gotta pick and choose your spots,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said Tuesday night. “When it was third and eight, Brock lowered his shoulder and got us nine yards. It’s a physical game and you gotta do what you gotta do.

“On some of those first and second downs, when there’s opportunities to get down, you gotta do so. Especially with a kid like that who’s so bought in and 3,000% wanting to prove it to his teammates, it’s almost the other way. You gotta prove to them that you’re willing to step out of bounds and play the next play. Sometimes those guys just gotta go through it to learn that.”

In the first two series of the game, he ran for three first downs. Vandagriff’s rule of thumb is that if it’s to convert a third down or for a touchdown, you gotta lower your shoulder and go for it. He might have broken that rule once or twice on Saturday night.

“Maybe I was just a little amped up going into tonight or something, but I’m just trying to get some yards for the boys,” he said after the win.

Vandagriff’s toughness is inspiring and infectious.

“Brock lowered his shoulder a lot. He showed us that he can run some people over, so that was good to see,” said running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye. “He’s like a running back out there. He’s got the speed on him. He’s got the toughness. All we need is for me to go to quarterback and I’ll hand him the ball.”

Vandagriff’s toughness was abundantly clear on those running plays. What impressed his coach more was the mental toughness the quarterback showed when things weren’t going according to plan.

“He plays physical, but he’s gotta get down and protect himself because we’re going to need that guy,” said Hamdan. “I think we got a good player there. You guys can really see the toughness, the resiliency, more so when things are going good, but how he responded when things weren’t going good. We’re certainly excited about his play.”

It’s safe to say that Hamdan is not alone. Kentucky fans can’t wait until it’s Brock o’Clock this Saturday against South Carolina.

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