From Oregon to ‘the middle of nowhere’ to the BBN, UK quarterback has seen it all
When Dan Berezowitz, the University of Kentucky football team’s chief of staff, came to Vince Marrow with video of a recruit he insisted he had to see, Marrow didn’t need much convincing. He’d seen him before.
“‘Man I remember him,’” Marrow recalls telling Berezowitz.
The recruit in question was Terry Wilson, then a standout for Garden City Community College in Kansas. Kentucky was in the midst of its second season with another former junior-college product, Stephen Johnson, quarterbacking its program and sought depth beyond the four returning scholarship quarterbacks on its roster at the time (Drew Barker, Danny Clark, Gunnar Hoak and Walker Wood — all of whom eventually transferred from UK). In Wilson, a former Oregon Ducks recruit who saw the writing on the wall in terms of playing time after his first year in Eugene, Marrow saw something more than an extra body to compete for a soon-to-be-open job.
“We watched him and I thought, whether high school or junior college, he was the best quarterback in the country because of all the stuff that he could do,” Marrow said. “And he had three years (of eligibility).”
Wilson won the starting job over Hoak prior to the 2018 campaign and proceeded to lead Kentucky to its first 10-win season since 1977, and overall one of its finest efforts in program history. He wasn’t perfect in those 13 games — he threw eight interceptions compared to only 11 touchdowns, and led the team in fumbles — but he emerged from that season as one of college football’s most accurate passers (67.2 percent, good for 12th nationally and third in the Southeastern Conference) and primed for a breakout season in year two.
Then, barely two games into 2019, Wilson suffered a season-ending knee injury.
“Could you imagine if he had not gotten hurt last year?” Marrow said. “There’s no doubt in my mind what was going to take place.”
Junior college
Well before he was rehabbing his leg at Kentucky, Wilson had to rehab his ego in Garden City, Kansas.
Wilson was a three-star prospect out of Del City, Okla., who originally committed to Nebraska before signing with Oregon. While Wilson was redshirted in 2016, fellow true freshman Justin Herbert became the first freshman to start at quarterback for the Ducks since 1983 and quickly earned the respect of teammates and coaches, and eventually soon garnered the same from the NFL; the Los Angeles Chargers drafted Herbert with the No. 6 overall pick in the April 2020 draft.
“He was the guy,” Wilson told the Herald-Leader earlier this month. “The team loved him and the coaches loved him. You never know what’s the right fit for you until you’re actually there. I feel like that’s all over the place, it doesn’t matter what school you’re at. That’s everywhere. I was just like, ‘Hey, I wanna go play.’
“It’s definitely important to have that confidence that if you do leave a school or want to go to juco, even if it’s to get better schools than you had coming out of high school, you’ve gotta trust yourself. You’ve gotta trust your gut because that decision can be a big decision. You don’t want to transfer somewhere and then be sitting behind someone again for another couple years.”
The desire to be on the field is what led Wilson into the junior-college ranks rather than another Division I program, where he’d most likely have to sit out another season unless the NCAA favored him with a waiver. He finished his lone year at Garden City ranked by ESPN as the No. 1 junior-college quarterback available in the 2018 recruiting class after throwing for 2,113 yards and 26 touchdowns plus 518 rushing yards and five TDs on the ground.
He bet on himself, and the wager paid off handsomely. Baylor, Florida and Mississippi were among the heavy-hitters vying for his services in addition to Kentucky. The Wildcats were among several programs who had representatives in attendance for the 2017 Heart of Texas Bowl between Garden City and Trinity Valley out of Texas, Wilson’s final performance as a Broncbuster, and it was one of their coaches who stood out immediately.
“Marrow was on our sideline and I remember after, I probably missed a throw, and then came back with a dart or threw a touchdown, and he’s literally on the sideline talking to me and trying to give me tips, coaching me, ‘Hey that’s a good ball, that’s a good ball,’” Wilson said. “I was like, ‘Hey man, this is cool. I like this dude.’ That was my first time physically seeing him. Just being around him, I could tell what type of guy he is. It wasn’t hard to read him.”
Last chance
Co-offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw was in the stands with Wilson’s family during the Heart of Texas Bowl. Wilson guessed that “maybe about 30” people were in attendance to see that game, in which the future UK quarterback threw for 337 yards and accounted for four TDs.
“I’m very grateful that they came down there in the middle of nowhere,” Wilson said with a laugh.
Garden City came out on the losing end of a 48-41 affair, but UK’s coaches were nonetheless thrilled with what they saw from Wilson. They left the right impression on him, too: he visited Lexington six days later, committed two days after that and enrolled on Jan. 10, 2018, less than two months after receiving his official offer from UK.
“I remember telling Hinny, ‘If we get this dude, this is going to be a game-changer,’ because I knew all the other stuff we had,” Marrow said. “And if you look at it, it was a game-changer. We won 10 games, really should have won 12. And that was his first year.”
The script Wilson is writing at UK is near its climax. Wilson missed most of last season but will have one more go at it this fall, assuming college football is played. He could appeal for an injury waiver to gain a sixth year of eligibility, but he’s said that five years of college football is enough for him.
His last one, he hopes, will be one to remember. He’s confident he’ll be a better player than he was in 2018 — despite the knee injury — if for no other reason than having so many reps behind him that he didn’t have before making his debut in the SEC.
“I feel like sometimes people forget this, but it was actually my first time playing Division I football,” Wilson said. “It was my first time on the field and I’m learning on the go. Everything’s moving fast and I feel like I’m drowning at times. I felt like I was a freshman quarterback all over again, learning how the game is, learning the speed and everything. Just coming from Garden City and getting straight here, you’re playing in front of a huge crowd and being around the best fans in the country.
“It doesn’t get any better than that.”
