Newton finding his way as UK's starter

By Chip Cosby / ccosby@herald-leader.com

Mark Cornelison | Staff

Morgan Newton celebrated a touchdown run against Mississippi State, his second of the season. The true freshman quarterback has made three starts for UK, two of them victories, since junior Mike Hartline's knee injury.

FOOTBALL: Tennessee at Kentucky
Where: Commonwealth Stadium
When: 7 p.m. Nov. 28
TV: ESPNU

Newton's season
Passing
Opponent Att-Cmp-Int Yds TDs
Auburn 5-13-0 39 0
La.-Monroe 3-6-1 17 0
Miss State 11-18-1 119 0
Totals 19-37-2 175 0
Rushing
Opponent Att Yds TDs
Auburn 8 15 1
La.-Monroe 3 9 0
Miss State 13 39 1
Totals 24 63 2

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The education and growth process of Morgan Newton continues.

Newton, a four-star quarterback from Carmel, Ind., arrived at Kentucky this summer as one of the most talked-about recruits of the Rich Brooks era. The coaching staff had touted Newton as a challenger for the starting job when he signed, but once practices began the word was that Newton wasn't ready to play as a true freshman.

Then when Mike Hartline went down with a knee injury at South Carolina, Newton was somewhat surprisingly thrown into the starter's role the next week at Auburn. And after three games, the results have been mixed.

Newton showed a surprising amount of poise for a rookie making his first start on the road in the Southeastern Conference, contributing a touchdown run in UK's big win over the Tigers. He didn't play a big role in a 36-13 win over Louisiana-Monroe the following week, and his performance in Kentucky's 31-24 loss to Mississippi State was the typical glass-half-full/glass-half-empty game of a rookie quarterback.

Newton showed the ability to be a playmaker in the clutch, coming through on several big third-down conversions. He hit freshman LaRod King for 18 yards on third-and-8 in the first quarter and added an 8-yard run on third-and-4 in the second quarter.

Then, on UK's final drive with the Cats trailing 31-24, he converted a trio of third-and-longs, connecting with Chris Matthews for 14 yards on third-and-13, King for 13 yards on third-and-6, and Matthews again for 17 on another third-and-6.

But Newton also had his rough spots. He failed to spot Randall Cobb wide open downfield on a pass play and threw a wounded duck to Matthews instead. And on the series before the last drive, he threw an ill-advised pass under pressure that was picked off by Jamar Chaney at the MSU 9.

Brooks said it would be unfair to pin the Mississippi State loss on the freshman quarterback.

"I think he's done a pretty good job," Brooks said. "He's made some very good plays. Yes, he's made some rookie mistakes, but a lot of those veterans made a lot of mistakes, too. There shouldn't be anybody on our team pointing fingers at anybody else right now because we've got enough blame to go around, including the guy standing at the podium right here."

Newton was hard on himself talking to reporters after the game, but he seemed in pretty good spirits during practice this week.

"Looking at it, I didn't play as bad as I thought," Newton said. "I think it's probably all-around the best I've played since I've gotten in. Obviously, there's a lot of things to correct and a lot of decisions that shouldn't have been made. It wasn't terrible, but there's still a lot of work to do. Some of the mistakes that you make being a quarterback overshadow some of the plays that you make. Any time you can make long third-down conversions and keep your team on the field it helps your confidence."

In addition to dealing with the pressures on the field, Newton has had to try to win over a locker room filled with many veterans who were loyal to Will Fidler, a popular fourth-year junior who won the backup job in fall camp only to be surpassed by Newton after Hartline's injury. Fidler played in the South Carolina, Auburn and Louisiana-Monroe games, but he didn't get off the sideline against Mississippi State.

"It can be an issue," UK head coach for offense Joker Phillips admitted. "When a guy's been around here a long time, and a young freshman comes in here ... . Will's been out with a lot of these guys and hung out with them and been in workouts, and Morgan hasn't been through many of them. He's having to gain trust of the team. But if you are an athlete that understands this game, a guy like (Newton) should've gained your trust Saturday with the way he battled. All these guys have to understand how they were as freshmen and see the pressure that's on him."

Newton said he's just trying to fit in and do his job while at the same time not step on too many toes.

"I'm a rookie," Newton said. "There's obviously a little bit of pressure to get things down. I'm trying to step up and be a leader. But it's not just me out there. I've got Randall (Cobb), Jorge (Gonzalez), the entire offensive line, seniors that have been around. So there's not too much pressure."