‘He’s going to be special.’ Kentucky’s QB gaining confidence with each game.
It had only been a few days since a sizable victory over Louisville, and Kentucky’s quarterback had watched the game tape several times already.
“I looked pretty comfortable out there,” Terry Wilson said, assessing his play in the 56-10 win at Cardinal Stadium. “Just watching it, I feel like I’ve come a long way from the beginning of the season. Just seeing the growth that I’ve been having over the season has been great.”
The first-year Cats quarterback had some growing pains during the long season, but he can see the most improvement in his decision making.
“Early in the season, some of my decisions weren’t quite there, weren’t the best,” Wilson said. “Middle of the season, I was a little hesitant. These past four or five weeks, I’ve been trusting myself.”
Kentucky’s offensive coordinator agreed that Wilson’s decision making improved dramatically from game one to game 12 — and hopes to see the evolution continue in this final game of the season versus Penn State in the Citrus Bowl on Tuesday.
“Knowing where to go with the ball and he got it out quick the last two games,” Eddie Gran said of Wilson, who had a 73 percent completion rate the last two games of the season.
“I think he was very efficient. That’s the biggest thing for us is that he knows where to go with the ball. … I think he’s definitely improved the last two or three weeks of the season.”
Coaches and teammates have commented all season that Wilson has a similar calm demeanor to the Cats’ signal caller the previous two seasons in Stephen Johnson. They both have the ability to run the ball, too.
And like Johnson, it took some time for Wilson to find his footing in a new offense, tight end C.J. Conrad said.
“He’s a younger guy,” the senior said of Wilson, who finished the regular season with 1,768 yards and 11 touchdowns passing (with eight interceptions) along with 518 yards rushing and four scores.
“Coming from juco and only being here less than a year now, it’s going to take some time.”
Conrad thinks Wilson’s time is arriving soon. “I’m kind of jealous I’m not coming back next year because he’s going to be special.”
The numbers, especially down the stretch, indicate “special” is on its way.
Starting with the Missouri game where Wilson connected on every pass of the final game-winning drive — including that 2-yard touchdown to Conrad with no time left on the clock — and ending with the win at Louisville, Wilson has started to look more at ease.
Some 60 percent of his passing yards this season came in the final five games. The sophomore completed 71 percent of his passes in the last four games of the regular season.
The 6-foot-3, 205-pound standout from Oklahoma City had five Southeastern Conference games with at least 65 percent completions, the first Cats quarterback to do it since Andre Woodson in 2006.
If Wilson’s season completion percentage (67.6) continues through the game with Penn State, it would be the third-best in UK history behind only Tim Couch (72.3 in 1998) and Maxwell Smith (68.7 in 2012).
Wilson’s debut season at Kentucky hasn’t been perfect — or pretty sometimes — but the quarterback also had an undisclosed knee sprain that slowed him around the time of the Texas A&M game, the quarterback admitted after the regular season ended.
But as his knee improved, the quarterback improved.
“Down the stretch, I’ve been feeling better and getting back to myself, got a little bounce in my step, so I feel a lot better,” said Wilson, who has had at least one touchdown pass in seven straight games.
Kentucky’s head coach was impressed with Wilson’s poise, especially against Louisville where the quarterback had 340 combined yards and four touchdowns (three through the air and one via run).
“He looked explosive when he pulled the ball down and ran it and obviously I love the way he bought time in the pocket and distributed the football and was very accurate and made some tough throws,” Mark Stoops said.
When Wilson goes back to watch tape of his first few games, he sees a quarterback who was still learning, still figuring things out.
There were times “where I was a bit not trusting in my reads and not letting it go,” he assessed.
Now he sees something different.
Wilson said: “I’ve been just playing my game, playing football and letting everything happen. I’m not trying to force too much. I’m just playing quarterback.”
Citrus Bowl
No. 14 Kentucky vs. No. 12 Penn State
When: 1 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla.
TV: ABC-36
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1, WLXG-AM 1300, WLXG-FM 92.5
Records: Kentucky 9-3 (5-3 SEC), Penn State 9-3 (6-3 Big Ten)
Series: Penn State leads 3-2
Last meeting: Penn State won 26-14 on Jan. 1, 1999, at the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla.