What we learned about Kentucky after second fall camp scrimmage

Kentucky’s fall camp is now in its final stages. On Saturday at Kroger Field, the program wrapped up its second and final preseason scrimmage. The Wildcats will soon shift into game prep mode as the season opener against Toledo is now just two weeks away. The depth chart is all but finalized — for now — at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility.

What did we learn from the most recent scrimmage? Let’s dive into some takeaways. A full report is headed your way now here at Kentucky Sports Radio Dot Com.

Kentucky is healthy but there are some notable injuries

Throughout fall camp, Kentucky’s coaching staff has been open about the good injury fortune this program has had all offseason. After last year was filled with bad injury luck, UK has remained healthy throughout this entire preseason. That has remained true throughout fall camp but there are some notable injuries to monitor over the next two weeks.

Seth McGowan missed yet another scrimmage and is dealing with an unspecified injury. The New Mexico State transfer entered fall camp as the favorite to be RB1 but has missed a notable amount of time. Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops expects the tailback back in a few short days but this is big absence to worry about. Meanwhile, Nebraska transfer Dante Dowdell missed a consecutive scrimmage but it is unclear whether this is injury related or just a precautionary holdout.

Alabama transfer Kendrick Law missed some time during fall camp but has returned to the field. The senior was back out there for Kentucky’s scrimmage on Saturday and made an impact on the field. Expectations remain high for the former top-100 recruit from Louisiana.

Danville (Ky.) Boyle County product Cole Lanter returned to the program in the offseason after spending last year at Gardner-Webb. The reserve wide receiver was injured during fan day and will miss the entire season.

All of Kentucky’s expected contributors are on track to be ready to roll when Week 1 finally arrives at the end of the month. There have been some small injuries to work through but the Cats are in good shape health wise entering the season. This has not always been the case in recent seasons.

Defense made strides in second scrimmage

Tackling and lack of communication were an issue in Kentucky’s first scrimmage. That ultimately led to some extended drives and some wins for the offense. Mark Stoops saw improvement in the second scrimmage.

“Defensively, I thought some guys really stepped up and made some plays, and stalled a few drives where we had some very promising things going,” Stoops said. “Defensively, stepped up. Just clean. Just good ball.”

Defensive tackle David Gusta said both the tackling and communication were much improved. Kentucky’s defense simply has more stability on this side of the football and a better track record. This unit needs to be a team strength and something this football team can lean on early. That cannot happen with bad tackling.

A weakness was improved from one week to the next. Will that translate to the field when the real games begin?

Cutter Boley is still the backup quarterback but he is improving

Kentucky is all-in on Incarnate Word transfer Zach Calzada to be the program’s starting quarterback in 2025. The seventh-year senior brings a load of experience to the table and has gotten most of the snaps with the first unit throughout spring practice and in fall camp.

But QB2 continues to make a strong impression. Cutter Boley is now in year two with the Kentucky football program and the redshirt freshman continues to have a strong camp. After playing well in both open practices at the beginning of camp, Boley has made some plays in the scrimmages at Kroger Field.

“I felt like they played good,” Stoops said when asked about the quarterbacks. “I thought Cutter was very efficient early in particular. He had some really nice drives and put some things together. Got the ball in the endzone. So that was really good to see.”

Calzada is the starting quarterback but the ballyhooed class of 2024 recruit has made strides. The redshirt freshman is set to enter the season as a high-ceiling backup.

Kentucky is optimistic about the running game

Despite completing both scrimmages without the tailbacks at the top of the depth chart, we keep hearing promising things about Kentucky’s run game. With a rebuilt offensive line leading the way, the Wildcats have had success against Kentucky’s defense and have been able to establish their power run game.

There are positive comments being said about the offensive line right now and redshirt freshman tailback Jason Patterson continues to impress. UK feels good about what this run game could become.

Now the Cats just need to get Seth McGowan and Dante Dowdell in the lineup.

Expectations at wide receiver remain clear as mud

Kentucky rebuilt the wide receiver room in the offseason. Position coach L’Damian Washington replaced Daikiel Shorts Jr. but he wasn’t the only new face in this room. The Cats lost five scholarship players to the transfer portal, replaced them with five transfer portal additions (one being a return transfer), and five high school signees. UK returned just three players when you don’t count Hardley Gilmore IV. The program made a concerted effort to replace last year’s production with high volume portal shopping.

Spots in the rotation were always going to be up for grabs. Ja’Mori Maclin and Kendrick Law were expected to play big roles but the positions around them were undetermined. How snaps are divided among this group of players is still undetermined.

Mark Stoops told us to expect a “big committee” just days after offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said that UK wasn’t sure where everyone stood from a rotation standpoint in that room. Projecting what the rotation will look like when the games begin seems like an impossible task at the moment.