Passing-Game Improvement a Top Priority for UK
Mark Stoops answered succinctly when he was asked on Saturday night whether Kentucky will eventually need more out of its passing game.
“Yes, for sure,” Stoops said.
Though he didn’t want to spend too much time on the question after UK managed a 14-7 victory in spite of completing just three passes for 18 yards against Vanderbilt, Stoops went into much greater detail on Monday. As the No. 12/14 Wildcats (6-1, 4-1 SEC) prepare for a trip to face Missouri (4-3, 0-3 SEC) at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the passing game will be a primary focus.
“We need to address in a lot of areas, from what we’re doing to set (Terry Wilson) up for success and set the team up for success,” Stoops said. “It will start with us and the coaching and what were doing, the position we are putting him in a position to be successful. And also getting the quarterback to pull the pin and to make accurate throws and just to trust himself.”
Wilson is the quarterback of a 6-1 football team in the thick of the SEC East, so clearly he has some things working for him. He has rushed for 395 yards on the season, with 105 coming in a streak-busting win at a now ninth-ranked Florida team that hasn’t lost since Wilson and the Cats beat the Gators in the Swamp. Wilson completed 11-of-16 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns in that game, more than enough passing production for a team that has Benny Snell Jr. in the backfield.
“He has been successful,” Stoops said. “He has put us in a position to get to the spot we are in right now. But he has also not played his best the past couple of games. So we have to look at that. That’s all of our responsibilities, it always is, starting with the coaching staff. Certainly Terry will take his part and on down to the protection and the receivers and so on. We’re always in this together. It’s never any one person’s fault, but certainly we need to play better at that position.”
As Stoops alluded to, Wilson has completed 16-of-29 passes for 126 yards UK’s last two games. The Wildcats have scored just three offensive touchdowns over that stretch, but managed to take Texas A&M to overtime on the road and survive Vanderbilt at home on the strength of Snell and an elite defense.
Now, as UK faces a challenging three-week stretch to close SEC play, Stoops, Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw will do whatever it takes to position their quarterback and their team for success.
“We need to watch the film and get some things corrected, and get back on the field,” Stoops said. “And certainly we have to look at all options, like we always have. I’ve always said that Terry is our starting quarterback, he’s going to start this week. But we certainly need to look at the other guys and see if they could get an opportunity to get in there and play and help us. So we’ll have a plan. We’ll work Gunnar (Hoak) pretty extensively this week and have him ready to play as well.”
Hoak, a redshirt sophomore, lost a quarterback battle with Wilson that went deep into fall camp. He has played in two games this season, completing 8-of-14 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns. His most memorable action came when he temporarily replaced an injured Wilson against Central Michigan and promptly led a two-minute drive to give UK a 21-20 lead just before halftime.
Wilson would return in that game after UK’s first two drives of the second half stalled with Hoak at QB, leading two touchdown drives and another two that bled nearly nine minutes off the clock as UK salted away at 35-20 season-opening victory.
“He’s played winning football for us and put us in a situation to win a lot of games,” Stoops said. “We greatly appreciate that and he’ll continue to do that. He will start, but once again, I also owe an obligation to the rest of our team to put us in a position to win. You have to have other guys ready to go.”
UK will need to be ready to go because Missouri certainly will be. As good as UK has been defensively this season, the Tigers have one of the nation’s best quarterbacks in Drew Lock and are averaging 38.6 points per game. In other words, the Cats will need to score to win.
“They’re more physical than people give them credit for,” Stoops said. “They’re more talented in running the ball and that puts a lot of pressure on the secondary and again, you’ve heard me talk about that many times, when they have balance, it puts a lot of stress on you because you have to play numbers in the run game, which gives them opportunity for big plays in the pass game. And they have the ability with the quarterback he has and the speed they have to put a lot of pressure on you.”
