Possible quarterback change among signs of a youth movement at Kentucky
Change might be afoot for the University of Kentucky offense.
Terry Wilson’s still listed as a potential starting quarterback against Georgia, but for the first time so is someone else: Joey Gatewood, who has played in three games as a backup, is now listed with “or” alongside Wilson at No. 1 spot on UK’s depth chart.
Gatewood appeared twice in mop-up time, against Mississippi State and at Tennessee, before he got more crucial looks at Missouri as part of the coaching staff’s efforts to jump-start an offense that proved to be without a battery on Saturday. Play at the quarterback position isn’t the only reason UK failed to move the ball last weekend, but it’s a reason: Wilson went 4-for-11 and Gatewood 1-for-3 to combine for 50 yards against a Tigers defense that entered the game having allowed an averaged of 307.6 yards through the air in its three previous contests.
“We felt like the way Missouri was going to play us, that they were going to be one-on-one outside and press us and get in our face outside, and load up on the run game,” head coach Mark Stoops said during his Monday news conference. “… We felt like we had to push the ball down the field a little bit and create some in the pass game. Unfortunately, we were not very effective in that.”
Stoops wasn’t certain when a call will get made on who gets the starting nod against the Bulldogs, but Gatewood might have a leg up early in the week; Wilson suffered a “minor injury” at Missouri that was expected to keep him out of Monday’s practice, allowing Gatewood to take more reps with the No. 1 offense and opening up more reps for true freshman Beau Allen, whom Stoops said he would like to get more game-ready in the coming weeks.
A switch to Gatewood, if made, would fall in line with some other changes made to Kentucky’s depth chart, indicating that something of a youth movement is on deck at the skill positions. Sophomore running back Chris Rodriguez, the Cats’ leading rusher through five games, is now listed with an “or” alongside senior A.J. Rose, who has started 18 straight games. True freshman receiver Mike Drennen, a backup last week at Missouri, is now a starter, and fellow freshman Izayah Cummings, a possible backup the last couple of weeks, has a firmer hold on a No. 2 spot.
Stoops described some failings with the Cats’ run-pass option plays on Saturday but did not pin those shortcomings on Wilson exclusively.
“I’m not going to put any one thing on the quarterback because that gets blown out of proportion,” Stoops said. “We need to play better as a unit.”
Running the ball
Whoever is at quarterback will need a bigger lift from the run game against Georgia than they got at Missouri.
That assist could be more in the form of play-calling rather than bigger rushes. Kentucky rushed 23 times (of only 36 total plays) for 98 yards, an average of 4.3 yards per attempt. That’s just a tick below the Cats’ season average (4.7), which is tied for third in the league (with Auburn, behind Texas A&M and Florida) through five games.
“We didn’t execute our bread-and-butter, and when we did, we were effective at moving the ball,” Stoops said. “It was few and far between, but when we were able to be physical, run the ball and get ahead of the chains, we were efficient.”
Kentucky ran the ball four times each on its two scoring drives (also the only drives on which UK traveled beyond its own 37-yard line) at Missouri, but it also got explosive gains on both possessions: a 29-yarder by Rose on the field-goal trip and a 17-yard rush by Rodriguez on the touchdown drive. Those gains count, of course, but UK’s day in Columbia looks even worse without ‘em.
Stoops again laid some blame for UK’s woes at the feet of his defense, which was on the field for 92 plays and Missouri to convert 14 times on 25 third- and fourth-down conversions.
“They controlled the clock. They controlled field position,” Stoops said. “… We were not able to do that on a lot of the drives, and again, that’s across the board. There’s enough blame to go around.”
Notes
▪ Stoops said offensive line coach John Schlarman would not be at practice Monday and wasn’t in the coaches’ meetings Sunday. Schlarman, who was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer in 2018, did not travel with the team to Missouri.
“I’m just trying to respect his privacy and let him get his rest, and seeing if we can get him healthy,” Stoops said. “Right now, obviously, he has a tough battle ahead of him and hopefully John will start feeling better, first and foremost for him and his family, not to get back to work. We just want him feeling good.”
▪ Don’t expect Quinton Bohanna to play until UK hosts Vanderbilt on Nov. 14, at the earliest. Marquan McCall again is listed as the starter at nose guard with Justin Rogers as the backup.
▪ Kentucky hasn’t beaten Georgia during Mark Stoops’ tenure (0-7) and the Bulldogs have won 10 straight overall in the series. UK hasn’t beaten a ranked Georgia team since 1988; the Bulldogs are No. 5 in the latest Associated Press poll.
Next game
No. 5 Georgia at Kentucky
When: Noon Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Records: Georgia 3-1; UK 2-3
