UK football mailbag: Who’s responsible for the Wildcats’ worrisome passing game?
There’s really no way to sugarcoat it: Kentucky failed to meet expectations at Missouri and now gets to try and get back to .500 against Georgia at Kroger Field after two weeks away from home.
Welcome to our weekly mailbag addressing your questions about the game behind us, the game in front of us, and anything else related to (and maybe even a couple things unrelated to) UK football that come to mind each week. As the season rolls along, please direct your questions to me on Twitter (@JoshMooreHL) or email them to jmoore@herald-leader.com.
Let’s go!
(Some questions edited for clarity).
@blucas7570: What’s wrong with the Wildcats’ passing game? Who’s to blame? QB or receivers?
The too long, didn’t read version: both, plus the coaching staff.
To hear Kentucky’s coaches tell it, the offensive woes lie with everyone who lines up on that side of the ball as well as themselves for not getting those guys ready to play. However, it’s hard not to read that mostly as coach-speak when a unit like the offensive line graded out as the fourth best in college football last week; if that group needs to play a perfect game for UK to score 21 points, the Cats might as well not suit up the rest of the year.
Sure, everyone plays a part, but the yoyo-ing at the quarterback position last weekend indicated a lack of confidence in Terry Wilson, and then a lack of confidence in Joey Gatewood, and then again a lack of confidence in Wilson. Save for a perfectly thrown ball from Wilson to Josh Ali for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, neither player demonstrated any downfield chemistry with their receivers Saturday.
Kentucky’s first three plays on Saturday were all throws. The first was down the sideline to tight end Keaton Upshaw, who was open enough to make a catch when Wilson let go of the ball but slowed down enough to allow a Missouri defender to break up the attempt. Wilson was quickly pressured on a fake hand-off on the second play and forced a bad ball to Allen Dailey, who tipped it for a near interception. The third play went off as planned, except it required Josh Ali to get 10 yards on a screen pass caught 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage; he was stopped 4 yards short of the first down.
I think the first play is on Upshaw, though one could argue Wilson was at fault for not putting enough gas on the ball, or for not instead throwing it to DeMarcus Harris, who was cutting across the middle and might have been able to pick up 5-6 yards. The second play, if not on offensive guard Kenneth Horsey (who ended up as an ineligible receiver downfield), was on Wilson for not getting rid of the ball quickly enough. The third play, in my view, is on the coaching staff; it seems to have worked well, but for what purpose?
Gatewood threw the ball only three times: a wobbler to Ali that was probably catchable, but wasn’t caught because Ali was worried about taking a hit from the right; a throw down the sideline to Upshaw, who was in double coverage and failed to draw a pass-interference penalty; and a completion to Ali that was fumbled and recovered by Missouri to seal its victory. Two of those outcomes trace to Ali while the other was either on Gatewood, or a wash; if Upshaw was the only “clear” target (it’s hard to tell via game replay), then it was probably the only decision.
UK’s coaches won’t admit it, but going all-in on the run last year was something of a double-edged sword. On one hand, Kentucky proved it could win eight games with a mostly one-dimensional offense. On the other, it stunted the development of its receivers, who in the offseason got a new position coach and then got sideswiped by the COVID-19 pandemic, further setting them back.
Lumping these together since they’re asking similar things.
We’ve seen him, but obviously if Kentucky’s coaches decide to focus on 2021 and beyond, Joey Gatewood will be getting the lion’s share of snaps at quarterback post-Georgia. It’s likely, too, that Beau Allen will get some run at some point down the stretch, if only to see where he’s at in his development.
Receiver is the juiciest position. True freshman Mike Drennen came to Kentucky with a Lynn Bowden-like reputation, and him being listed as a No. 1 on the latest depth chart has to bode well for his ability to be a play-maker. He saw run at the end of the Tennessee blowout, catching a ball from Gatewood, and perhaps that was an early peek at a powerful bond created between second-stringers.
Izayah Cummings has appeared in the last four games but not been targeted. He’s listed as a more solid backup this week, so we could see his snap count move higher. I’m not sure he has the breakaway speed BargerBrent wondered about, but he’s a big, long youngster who should have a great chance at many 50-50 balls over the course of his career. Getting more Kentucky boys on the field can never hurt, either.
Speaking of native sons, Tae Tae Crumes hasn’t seen the field at all this season, which to me suggests something is amiss that we don’t know about. He’s a water-bug that coaches raved about throughout most of last year but hasn’t been mentioned at all in 2020; he’s a speedster that could maybe make a difference if able to find his way to the field.
@Dubs2233: Are Kavosiey Smoke and Quinton Bohanna expected to play versus Georgia this week?
Smoke was in uniform and traveled with the team to Missouri, and my hunch is he would have gotten some run if needed, or if UK had actually reached a snap count that called for someone else’s legs. With only 36 plays, 23 of them rushes, it probably was the right call to keep him sidelined. There was healthy debate about how those plays were distributed among two running backs on Saturday, so throwing a third into the mix wouldn’t have helped.
I won’t say Smoke is a lock to see action against Georgia, but he should be available. As for Bohanna, he’s not on the depth chart and I wouldn’t expect to see him until the Vanderbilt game on Nov. 14, at the earliest.
Next game
No. 5 Georgia at Kentucky
When: Noon Saturday
TV: SEC Network
Records: Kentucky 2-3, Georgia 3-1
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Series: Georgia leads 59-12-2
Last meeting: Georgia won 21-0 on Oct. 19, 2019, in Athens, Ga.
