Shane Beamer is very familiar with Kentucky QB Brock Vandagriff as the Gamecocks prepare for their first SEC test of the year on Saturday against the Wildcats.

Back when Beamer was on Oklahoma’s coaching staff, he was part of the recruiting efforts to bring Vandagriff to Norman. He was even committed to Oklahoma for most of his junior year.

In his press conference leading up to the Week 2 SEC clash, Beamer said that Caleb Williams — who was drafted in April as the No. 1 overall pick by the Chicago Bears — wouldn’t have been the Sooners’ QB if Vandagriff hadn’t flipped his commitment to Georgia when the current South Carolina head coach was an assistant for Oklahoma.

“The only reason Caleb Williams ended up at Oklahoma is because Brock (Vandagriff) decommitted from Oklahoma and went to Georgia,” Beamer said.

Williams landing at Oklahoma had big ripple effects throughout college football over the past few years. He ultimately followed Lincoln Riley to USC and then won the Heisman Trophy in 2022. Williams’ emergence with the Sooners also caused Spencer Rattler to lose his starting job in Norman and ultimately transfer to South Carolina. Dillon Gabriel, who replaced Williams at OU for 2 years and is now at Oregon, may have also had a different path throughout his collegiate career.

 

While it’s his 4th collegiate season, this is the first year Vandagriff has had the chance to start and lead a SEC team as the Wildcats’ signal caller.

In his 3 years at Georgia, he sat behind Stetson Bennett and wasn’t able to beat Carson Beck for the starting job last year, which led to him entering the transfer portal and ultimately commit to Kentucky.

In the season opener against Southern Miss last weekend, Vandagriff thrived within the confines of Kentucky’s offense. The Wildcats dominated time of possession and showcased their strong run game, rushing the ball 24 times with 7 different ball-carriers getting touches including Vandagriff, who had 5 carries for 35 yards.

In the passing game, Kentucky only threw the ball 18 times, with Vandagriff completing 12 of those attempts for 169 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception.

It will be interesting to see if the South Carolina defense — which struggled at times in the opener against Old Dominion- will force Vandagriff to beat them through the air with a defensive game plan focused on stopping the run.