Kentucky’s passing game has slowed down, but its receivers are engaged as ever.
Being a wide receiver at the University of Kentucky hasn’t been easy the last two games.
Wide receiver Lynn Bowden, in his first start at quarterback, completed seven passes but threw the ball only 11 times. That was in part by design and in part a reaction to what Arkansas presented defensively — Bowden had the green light to throw more, if necessary, but his legs (196 yards on 24 carries) were more than capable of carrying the Wildcats to their first win in four tries.
The conditions in Athens last week weren’t good for anything but catching a cold: UK and Georgia combined to go 11-for-27 through the air. Kentucky outpaced the Bulldogs in attempts, 15 to 12, but Bowden completed only two throws — one to Bryce Oliver and another to Clevan Thomas.
If guys in the locker room didn’t like one another, the lack of available touches might be more frustrating than it has been. A bye week in which head coach Mark Stoops stressed selflessness helped prepare every Wildcat, but particularly the receivers, for the changes that followed.
“Coach Stoops was really honed in on team-bonding and us getting to know one another on and off the field,” Thomas said. “If I’m closer to the guy next to me, I feel like I can play harder. I know where he’s from, I know his family, I know what brought him here, instead of going out there and looking at him as just another teammate, you know?”
Kentucky through its first five games averaged 34.6 pass attempts per game, a 52.4 percent increase from its 22.7 attempts per game in 2018. Even with Sawyer Smith limited due to injury, the Wildcats were willing to send the ball flying frequently. So far that’s not been the case with Bowden, who’s 12-for-30 on the season but who’s averaged a team-high 7.3 yards on 54 rushes this year.
Receivers coach Michael Smith, in his second season leading that unit, has continued to see his guys approach games with the right attitude despite a drop-off in the amount of balls coming their direction.
“At the end of the day, when you’re in that locker room, nobody’s really worrying about how many catches they had, how many balls were thrown to ’em,” Smith said after the win over Arkansas. “When we get the ‘W,’ it’s a celebration and we’ve gotta do what we gotta do.”
Postgame dance routines weren’t meant to be in Athens, but Smith felt like his unit performed well in spite of the weather. More is expected, at the end of the day, however.
“We didn’t make enough plays to win the game,” Smith said. “ ... There’s some tremendous football being played out there by the wide receivers but there’s also some things that we gotta get corrected. All I’m trying to do is keep these guys positive and let them know that when our opportunity comes, we’ve gotta make those plays.”
Some of their continuing education, as with the rest of the team, involves getting used to blocking for an agile scrambler like Bowden as opposed to Smith or Terry Wilson.
Bowden knows he can sometimes make it difficult for his blockers.
“I see things differently from everybody when I’ve got the ball in my hand,” Bowden said. “It may be the littlest thing I see. ... They’ve told me it’s hard to block for me, ‘cause they never know where I’m going.”
Thomas, who caught his first career touchdown against Arkansas, was candid when describing what it’s like to block for Bowden, and what he needs to do to improve.
“Let me tell you about this man Lynn,” Thomas said with a grin. “Lynn, he’s very shifty, so I’ll go up to a guy, I break down and all I see’s a DB doing this.”
He started shaking his head and hips rapidly. Thomas thinks to himself, “‘Man, why is he doing all that?’”
“I see on film that Lynn’s doing that too, so I’m like ‘Aww man.’ So what I’ve gotta do is just hit the dude and keep my feet running, ‘cause Lynn’s gonna shake, shake, that’s all he’s gonna do, is shake. The DBs, they’ll be running all over the place, and I’ve just gotta get my hands on a guy.”
Thomas said it’s a unique, fun challenge, and in some ways keeps him and other receivers more physically active in the game than they might be with another quarterback.
It’ll keep them well-conditioned for whenever the ball comes whirling their way, however infrequently it could be. He echoed his position coach’s sentiment.
“We’re all grown men,” Thomas said. “With Terry down, Sawyer banged up and Lynn at quarterback, we all know (the circumstances). We’re all honed in on if a play presents itself, we’ve got to make it. Whether it’s one throw to you, two throws, you’ve got to make it.
“Whenever the ball’s in the air, you’ve got to make it.”
