Wilson’s Progress on Full Display in Dominant Win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Quietly and steadily, Terry Wilson has improved all season.
There was no keeping his growth secret Saturday.
“He’s come such a long way from the beginning of the season on his decisions he makes, being more patient and trusting the o-line just to give us time, give him time,” Benny Snell Jr. said. “I’m proud of Terry. He’s great. He’s amazing.”
After serving for most of the season as sidekick to star running back Benny Snell Jr. and a standout defense led by Josh Allen, Wilson took center stage as No. 15 Kentucky retook the Governor’s Cup. Wilson was the game’s Most Valuable Player as the Wildcats (9-3) dominated Louisville (2-10) at Cardinal Stadium, 56-10.
“He was awesome tonight, wow,” C.J. Conrad said. “He was slinging that thing. That’s what I was telling everybody on the sideline. He looked extremely comfortable out there and that’s awesome. He’s a younger guy coming from JUCO and only being here less than year now, it’s going to take some time. He just feels like as the season goes on he’s getting more and more confident and you saw that tonight.”
Wilson was in complete command from the outset, leading touchdown drives on all five of UK’s first-half possessions. He tossed perfect deep balls and made the right check-downs in equal measure, completing 17-of-23 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns. His passing yardage and touchdown totals were career highs and he added 79 rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries for good measure.
“I was really pleased with Terry,” Mark Stoops said. “I really felt like he did some really good things. He was, what, 14 of 16 in the first half and really put it away at the end of the first half. Really played some really good football down the stretch late in the second quarter.”
His line in the box score was eerily reminiscent of Stephen Johnson’s the last time UK played at Louisville. Maybe that shouldn’t be any surprise, considering the game came at exactly the same point in his Kentucky career: the end of his first season at Kentucky.
“Him being a transfer and coming in not knowing the lay of the land and his teammates and just playing in general, being a first-year starter is difficult in college football, in particular in our league,” Stoops said. “He’s really grown and stayed the course and stayed steady. He had some highs and lows.”
The highs have been higher than have been seen at Kentucky in a long time, namely a streak-busting performance in a win at Florida. The lows have come in the form of games in which UK’s offense has been scarcely able to move the ball and Wilson was plagued by hesitance.
“When I look back and watch film, it’s been times where I was a bit not trusting in my reads and not letting it go and not trusting everything,” Wilson said. “I feel like I’ve been just playing my game, just playing football and just letting it happen, not trying to force too much and just playing quarterback.”
That’s a normal process for a first-year Division-I starter to go through, but Wilson stepped into that role for a team ready to win right now. That was helpful in some ways, but an added challenge in others.
“Him being a transfer and coming in not knowing the lay of the land and his teammates and just playing in general, being a first-year starter is difficult in college football, in particular in our league,” Stoops said. “He’s really grown and stayed the course and stayed steady. He had some highs and lows. It’s tough. He has to be able to handle that and keep on pushing forward.”
Capped by the best performance of his career, Wilson certainly did that. Now he has led UK to its first nine-win season in four decades.
“It means a lot, but I feel like that’s the standard that is being applied here,” Wilson said. “I feel like we hold ourselves to a higher standard and Coach Stoops does a great job keeping our minds fresh and not trying to put too much on us, but he wants the best for us.”
