There’s no debate about UK’s starter at QB. But who should its backup be?
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Scouting the 2020 Wildcats
Josh Moore, the University of Kentucky football beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com, is examining the 2020 Wildcats position by position entering the season, which kicks off Sept. 26 at Auburn. Click below to read Josh’s stories published so far.
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Terry Wilson will start for the University of Kentucky football team. End of controversy, if there ever was one to be had.
The message has been loud and clear throughout fall camp: this is Wilson’s team. And it should be: he’s 12-3 as a starting quarterback, has completed more than 60 percent of his passes and his take-off ability seems unrestrained by the knee injury that sidelined him for most of the 2019 season.
Having an extended layoff and a less laborious camp has helped ease any concerns related to Wilson’s confidence in that leg.
“That time has helped,” head coach Mark Stoops said. “The slow introduction to football I believe has to help. … We’re not forced to pack so many reps and so many practices into week (this year), so he has time in between to recover. I believe that has to help him. He definitely looks comfortable.”
But what of the guys behind Wilson? The room technically goes five scholarships deep, but Stoops has said the plan is to not play redshirt freshman Nik Scalzo if at all possible. Scalzo is available, but coming off his second ACL surgery in a little more than a year’s time, and the team’s focusing on his health over his ability to contribute on the field.
Ideally, the Cats won’t ever need to think about deploying Scalzo. In front of him are three quarterbacks with varying degrees of experience and better cases to have their number called if necessary. Let’s break ‘em down.
Joey Gatewood
Why he should be the backup: Gatewood transferred from Auburn, where he backed up reigning SEC Freshman of the Year Bo Nix. He’s talented, particularly as a runner, but wasn’t going to play as long as Nix was in the equation. “He’s so tall and he’s big over that line, and he sees things that maybe some other quarterbacks don’t see,” co-offensive coordinator Eddie Gran said of the 6-foot-4, 221-pound sophomore. “… You can see it happening right now with Joey. He’s making good decisions and he’s just got such a strong arm. He sees over everything and makes some throws some of the other ones can’t.”
Why he might not be: The NCAA and/or the Southeastern Conference could prevent Gatewood from getting immediate eligibility at UK this season. For what it’s worth, Rivals’ Travis Graf has reported that a decision in Gatewood’s favor has already been made by the NCAA and it’s awaiting SEC clearance, possibly contingent on the outcome of a supposed “gentleman’s agreement” between UK and Auburn requiring Gatewood to not play against the Tigers. The validity of that not withstanding, it seems the biggest thing standing in the way of Gatewood getting named No. 2 is an eligibility waiver.
Beau Allen
Why he should be the backup: Kentucky’s newest quarterback signee enrolled alongside Gatewood in January but has no eligibility concerns looming over his possible playing time. In fact, any concerns about preserving Allen’s redshirt went out the window when the NCAA decreed 2020 a free year of eligibility for all because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Allen was a four-star recruit out of Lexington Catholic High School and has been a longtime favorite of the coaches. “Beau is exactly who we thought he was,” Stoops said early in fall camp. “He is really playing well and looks really comfortable out there.”
Why he might not be: He played football games in Covington, Danville and Somerset last year. True freshman are plenty capable of playing right away in the SEC, but throwing one to the wolves shouldn’t be done without careful consideration.
Sawyer Smith
Why he should be the backup: Having spent a little more than a year in the offense, Smith should know it better than anyone on in the room who isn’t Terry Wilson. He started three games following Wilson’s injury and played in five more, securing several key conversions on short-yardage runs. Smith also has the benefit of having spent more seasons in the FBS ranks than anyone as he enters his fifth college season (he was at Troy for three years prior to coming to UK).
Why he might not be: Unfortunately, it’s more a case of “why he won’t be.” Nothing has been said, but reading between the lines, it’s clear UK is leaning into its future — Allen and Gatewood — rather than a proven commodity when determining where it’ll go after Wilson. “Sawyer is Sawyer. Sawyer’s a team guy, you don’t have to worry about that,” Stoops said. “He’s an older guy, he’s got experience, he’s been around different coaches, different staffs. He adjusts really well and adapts really well. He’s a guy we can count on. You know what you’re gonna get. He’s a good, solid player.” Those are nice words, but not as exhilarating as the ones that coaches have used to describe the other backups throughout camp.
Scouting the Cats
This is the last of nine stories looking at the 2020 Kentucky football team position-by-position.
Outlook: Quarterbacks
Leading man: Terry Wilson is eager to make up for lost time after spending all but six quarters of last season away from the field because of a left knee injury. Wilson as a starter is 12-3, the best record of any UK quarterback through 15 starts. The Wildcats would have to win eight games this year for him to maintain that 80-percent win percentage, which is a lofty ask given the schedule in front of them, but a percentage that should stay in tact centers around his passing ability: Wilson in 2018 ranked among the nation’s leaders in pass percentage (67.2) and completed 63.5 percent of his passes in one and a half games last season.
Supporting cast: Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood and true freshman Beau Allen are bigger players in the Cats’ long-term plans than Sawyer Smith, and any glimpse of game action either gets in 2020 would be a nice bonus, since this year of eligibility is a freebie for everyone who’s able to participate. The coaching staff is taking a slow-and-steady approach with Nik Scalzo, who’s about a year removed from a second ACL surgery.
Synopsis: Kentucky’s quarterback situation should be much better in 2020 than it was in 2019, when a wide receiver ultimately started the final seven games in that role. Still, an injury to Wilson again would be troublesome, given the lack of inexperience on the depth chart behind him outside of Smith. The best-case scenario, of course, is a full season with Wilson at the helm, but that could be a tough task given the grind of a 10-game SEC schedule.
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 8:52 AM.
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