Four games into his UK career, what’s our early read on quarterback Devin Leary?
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Preview: No. 22 Florida at Kentucky
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Florida football game at noon at Kroger Field.
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Random Kentucky-Florida notes:
▪ So what’s our assessment of Devin Leary? The North Carolina State transfer has been Kentucky’s starting quarterback for four games. There have been ups. There have been downs. Bottom line: The Wildcats are 4-0.
Leary’s bottom line: “I’ve got to play better.”
Heading into Saturday’s game against Florida, the senior from New Jersey has completed 73 of 123 passes for 1,060 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions. He’s 10th in the SEC in passer rating. His 59.3 completion percentage is lower than we would have thought. His interception number is higher than projected.
After all, Leary arrived with a pinpoint-passer reputation. His last two seasons in Raleigh, he completed 65.7 and 61.1% of this throws. He totaled 35 touchdowns with just five interceptions in 2021. Before tearing a pectoral muscle on his right side in the sixth game last season, Leary had thrown for nine scores with five picks.
His first two games in a blue uniform, Leary started cold, finished hot. He was 22 of 45 for 269 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions combined in the first two quarters, then 20 of 24 for 271 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions combined in the final two.
Two weeks back, he went 16 of 25 for 315 yards and three scores with one interception in UK’s 35-3 win over Akron before leaving the game after having the wind knocked out of him on a hard hit. In last Saturday’s 45-28 victory at Vanderbilt, Leary was 15 of 28 for 205 yards with one TD and two interceptions in his first road test.
A couple of caveats. It’s easy to forget that less than a year ago he underwent a complicated surgery on that torn pectoral. He was able to participate in UK’s spring drills when many predicted he wouldn’t be ready. And he’s in a new system with a new offensive coordinator (Liam Coen) and a new group of receivers.
Kentucky’s first down struggles haven’t helped his cause. Those continued at Vanderbilt. The Cats failed to gain at least 4 yards on 14 of their 25 snaps on first-and-10 situations. Second-and-long is a tough passing down.
Positives: Leary’s pocket presence is one reason UK’s offensive line has allowed only four sacks. He is savvy in avoiding pressure. And he can hit the big play. He’s completed 19 passes of 20-plus yards. The feeling is there is more to come, that Leary will improve as the season progresses. Given the competition, he’ll need to. And he knows it.
Said Leary, “I need to operate a lot better.”
▪ Florida has lost 12 of its last 13 games away from The Swamp. The lone win was a 41-24 victory at Texas A&M on Nov. 5 last season. Billy Napier is 1-6 away from Gainesville as the Gators’ head coach, including a 24-11 loss to Utah in Salt Lake City in the season opener Aug. 31.
▪ In Florida’s 29-16 win over then-No. 11 Tennessee on Sept. 16 in Gainesville, the Gators stopped the Vols on downs three times in the second half. Tennessee drives ended at Florida’s 17, 44 and 25.
▪ In its first four games, Kentucky has held all four of its opponents under 100 rushing yards. The 2022 Wildcats held foes under 100 yards rushing four times all season. Same for the 2021 Cats.
▪ UK is currently 10th nationally in rushing defense, allowing 77.5 yards per game. UK is 12th in average yards allowed per rush at 2.58.
▪ Remember, Florida rushed for 183 yards in its win over Tennessee. Trevor Etienne gained a career-high 172 yards on 23 carries. The brother of Jacksonville Jaguars running back and former Clemson star Travis Etienne ripped off a 62-yard touchdown run against the Vols.
▪ Florida’s field goal kicker is really named Trey Smack. And he smacked — pun intended — five kicks through the uprights for field goals in the Gators’ 22-7 win over Charlotte last Saturday. Included in the quintet was a 54-yarder.
▪ A non UK-UF note: NBC received its largest regular-season college football audience in 30 years for Ohio State’s dramatic 17-14 win at Notre Dame on Saturday night. The game averaged 10.5 million viewers, ranking behind only 22 million for Notre Dame-Florida State in 1993.
This story was originally published September 26, 2023 at 10:23 AM.
