Stoops saw growth in Brock Vandagriff; no injury update on the QB

Kentucky lost starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff to an injury on a third-down sack midway through the third quarter. Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr., a projected top-15 draft pick, was left untouched by Vandgriff’s offensive line, which led to a direct shot by Pearce on Vandagriff. The critical sack resulted in a nine-yard loss on 3rd-and-1, and sent Vandagraff to the medical tent to get checked out. He would not return for the rest of the game.

Holy James Pearce Jr. #Vols pic.twitter.com/iLGdnMOWvg

— Emilie Rae Cochrane (@EmCochranetv) November 3, 2024

After the game, Mark Stoops would not comment on Vandagriff’s health. Stoops told Tom Leach in his postgame interview, “That wouldn’t be right for me to comment on that right now.”

Stoops acknowledged his lengthy injury report, though. He estimated that 10 or 11 of Kentucky’s starters, including Vandagriff, were injured by the end of the game.

“I thought Brock showed some growth today”

As for Vandagriff’s play before the injury that sidelined him, Stoops liked what he saw in a little over a half of football. “I think Brock played really tough until he got hurt,” Stoops said postgame. “I just appreciate his effort. I thought he did some really good things when he had time. At times, when he didn’t play well, heck, nobody could have stood back there with some of that pressure.”

Stoops thought the offensive line played well early on, which set up the run and, in turn, the play-action pass. “I thought Brock hit some, then we finally hit the check down that got 10 or 12, and just did a nice job of moving the ball and keeping them off-balance against a really good defense,” he said of Vandagriff, who was 10 for 17 for 123 yards with a touchdown and an interception in the loss.

“I thought Brock showed some growth today. I really did.”