Did anyone listen to the Mark Stoops radio call in show last night on ESPN 1530? I happened to catch some of it on my way home.

 

Basically, in as few words as possible, a caller called in about Towles struggling some in the 2nd half and if there was a chance Drew Barker would come in to try and ignite the offense. Coach Stoops replied that "If the second half struggles continue, then that is definitely something that our staff will look at". After that he did go on to say that both opening drives started with a 1st and 20 and that is would be hard for any QB to consistently put long drives together with penalties and took up for Towles and how he played as well as giving him a ton of credit for the last possession where they melted the clock.

 

In all of that discussion, my opinion is that Dawson and Stoops are not totally sold on PT and DB could get the nod soon if things don't improve in the 2nd half of games. Just wanted to see what everyone else thought about this.

 

In the end, right now UK is 2-0 with wins over solid teams. Not great teams, but solid teams. I think you ride PT, obviously, if you continue to win even if it is winning ugly.

Edited September 15, 201511 yr by KingOfClutch33
Spelled Towles wrong! Oops

I have only watched bits and pieces... What have been the cause of the 2nd half struggles? Is it play calling? Because that isn't the QB's fault...

I thought PT played well Saturday.

I have only watched bits and pieces... What have been the cause of the 2nd half struggles? Is it play calling? Because that isn't the QB's fault...

 

It's not play calling. It is execution. Play calling is the scapegoat.

I thought PT played well Saturday.

 

I did also. I'm not sure why Stoops is being wishy washy right now. Be a man, Mark.

I put a great deal of the Game 1 2nd half struggles on Towles. He was terrible in the 2nd half.

 

I put a great deal of the Game 2 2nd half struggles on either Shannon Dawson or Stoops or whoever had the idea to be ultra-conservative, especially in the 3rd quarter.

If I may interject, it is not Towels and is not pronounced that way. It is Towles which sounds like "tolls".

 

Carry on.

I wasn't overly impressed with Towles after the ULL game, but I thought he played very well against South Carolina.

I did also. I'm not sure why Stoops is being wishy washy right now. Be a man, Mark.

I agree don't be wish washy. ULL game some of the decisions to go downfield on second/third and short drove me crazy. Remember when you here about teams loading the box and going Cover 0 or man to man with no safety help; Teams are saying either your Qb can't beat us,or your wr can't beat us, or neither are good enough.

 

I think mostly the play calling is the biggest factor for the second half struggles.

If I may interject, it is not Towels and is not pronounced that way. It is Towles which sounds like "tolls".

 

Carry on.

Correct. I am going to say that spellcheck changed it. The first time that I typed it out on each of my different devices it wants to change it, once you over ride the correction my device remembers it and no longer tries to correct it.

I think UK came out very conservative in the 2nd half last week as well. There were some throws that PT would like to have back, I am sure, but overall I thought he performed pretty well in this game. I am with everyone else on Stoops being wishy-washy. You made PT the starter, get behind him and ride him to as many wins as you can. If you really wanted to see Drew, then you should have made him the starter.

 

I have rarely ever seen a circumstance where a new QB comes into a ball game and gives an instant spark. Maybe I am not watching the right games, but I don't see it too often in NCAA or NFL. Go with the guy who has helped you win two good ball games. If they beat UF this week then I would go with PT until his arm fell off!

I was listening and I don't think we should read into his comments that much.

I don't think they came out too conservative in the 2nd half. I think they play calling was actually more aggressive in the 2nd half but they just couldn't get anything going. Not running Boom most of the second half I think was why the offense stalled so much.

 

The defense is what made it a game, the defense for 2 weeks in a row lets the opponents make it closer than it should be.

I was listening and I don't think we should read into his comments that much.

 

I didn't hear it but I agree. I hear "sure we have a really good #2 and would not hesitate to put him in if we thought it would help."

 

Nothing more.

I think UK came out very conservative in the 2nd half last week as well. There were some throws that PT would like to have back, I am sure, but overall I thought he performed pretty well in this game. I am with everyone else on Stoops being wishy-washy. You made PT the starter, get behind him and ride him to as many wins as you can. If you really wanted to see Drew, then you should have made him the starter.

 

I have rarely ever seen a circumstance where a new QB comes into a ball game and gives an instant spark. Maybe I am not watching the right games, but I don't see it too often in NCAA or NFL. Go with the guy who has helped you win two good ball games. If they beat UF this week then I would go with PT until his arm fell off!

 

I don't know if you have watched the last two games or not. However that is exactly what happened the last two weeks for the opponents UK played. Once their backup QB came in, it gave them a spark and UK's defense struggled stopping the backup QB's.