No, just play Phillips if needed.

I would say that the UK coaching staff will do whatever they think can be done to win as many games as possible this year, and if that means burning Towles' redshirt for him to take one snap in one game, they will do it without blinking an eye if they think it will get them another win this year. A lot of the current coaching staff seems to be relatively young guys who have not proven themselves at the highest level. Every week they are coaching for the sake of their professional livelihoods, and they know that they will only get so much time to right the ship before being shipped out themselves (which is what will happen to most of them anyway, just like what happened to the previous coaching staff).

Did I miss something? Is there a reason to think that Smith is done for the year?

 

Yeah because it's obvious his shoulder will not hold up for an entire season. Everytime he takes a good pop he's on the sidelines with ice on his shoulder. Big mistake not having the surgery last year, I don't think this is an injury that's going away. It's going to continue to plague him I suspect.

I said weeks ago that Smith would never make it through the season. They need to give Towels or Phillips a chance.

I would rather see Towles actually start and take over, but not sure if that's fair to the kid after last year.

Mac Smith said he is good to go for next week.

 

Didn't he say that before the Florida game last season? And then out trots Morgan.........

Yeah because it's obvious his shoulder will not hold up for an entire season. Everytime he takes a good pop he's on the sidelines with ice on his shoulder. Big mistake not having the surgery last year, I don't think this is an injury that's going away. It's going to continue to plague him I suspect.

 

I wonder if the reason that many other schools backed off of Smith, and hence, he ended up at Kentucky with Joker, is his injury history/concerns about future injuries.

I wonder if the reason that many other schools backed off of Smith, and hence, he ended up at Kentucky with Joker, is his injury history/concerns about future injuries.

 

Hard to say, I didn't really follow his recruitment much so I don't really know about his past injury history or what schools backed off recruiting him. It's clear its been a problem while at Kentucky. They opted to not go with surgery last year and went with therapy instead and its obvious that is really paying off.

Stoops himself was on KSR this morning. He said unless something changes they are going with Whitlow exclusively if Smith is out. No Towles.

Everyone needs to keep in mind, Jalen Whitlow is playing the quarterback position for really his second full year. He took minimum snaps (about 33%) at quarterback in his senior year of high school, since his team had an all-state quarterback who went to Georgia Tech named Justin Thomas.

 

There is a huge learning curve at this position and I marvel at just how much potential Whitlow actually has at quarterback. His best days are ahead of him, IF the UK coaches and fans can be patient.

 

He is a playmaker, but not yet, a polished quarterback.

Everyone needs to keep in mind, Jalen Whitlow is playing the quarterback position for really his second full year. He took minimum snaps (about 33%) at quarterback in his senior year of high school, since his team had an all-state quarterback who went to Georgia Tech named Justin Thomas.

 

There is a huge learning curve at this position and I marvel at just how much potential Whitlow actually has at quarterback. His best days are ahead of him, IF the UK coaches and fans can be patient.

 

He is a playmaker, but not yet, a polished quarterback.

 

He's not even a Quarterback.

 

You can't tell me you wouldn't want to have a target like him in the end zone for Smith/Towles to throw to.

Stoops himself was on KSR this morning. He said unless something changes they are going with Whitlow exclusively if Smith is out. No Towles.

 

Yes, nothing to see here--running quarterbacks never get dinged up.

Everyone needs to keep in mind, Jalen Whitlow is playing the quarterback position for really his second full year. He took minimum snaps (about 33%) at quarterback in his senior year of high school, since his team had an all-state quarterback who went to Georgia Tech named Justin Thomas.

 

There is a huge learning curve at this position and I marvel at just how much potential Whitlow actually has at quarterback. His best days are ahead of him, IF the UK coaches and fans can be patient.

 

He is a playmaker, but not yet, a polished quarterback.

 

I was not aware of this. Why would UK put a guy under center who has never fully played under center? We shouldn't be shocked at the results thus far.

Stoops told the media that he actually hopes to redshirt the other QB (not Towles).

Pat has a long release. He needs to correct that or he won't play. I have said it in the past this offense does not suit his abilities imo...

 

Additionally, as I said before, the dominance of his team may have hindered his understanding of small parts of the game. His Sophomore year he either handed it off, or threw deep to Drennan and crew. Very rarely did he use the middle third. His JR. year, he had so much success running and throwing deep that he stuck to those strengths and tore up the competition. His Sr. year he appeared much better at using the whole field. Problem was, nobody could stick with Ozzy, so he could go deep whenever he wanted. Once Ozzy went out, Pat got much better at progessing to his third receiver and McGown (sp?) became a monster. It is going to take him some time getting comfortable trusting his progression in college, as he really only had to do it for 1/4 of a season in high school. Finally, last year's staff did him no favors, since he only practiced w/ the one's starting in October and then threw him right into the fire. He still did decently considering lack of practice time and every time he took over the O it seemed like they had terrible field position.