UK Practice Report | Dawson looking for spark

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Highlights from Tuesday’s Kentucky football practice:

News of the day: Kentucky offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson did not mince words when describing why the staff has elected to name redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Barker the starter. “Looking for more of just a spark really,” Dawson said. “We’ve got to inject some confidence back into the group.” Dawson applauded the speed and quality of Barker’s decisions under center and said the former four-star recruit has responded well to being named the starter. “He’s been good,” Dawson said. “He’s had a lot of energy, and he’s excited about the opportunity.”

Injury update: During his call-in show Monday, UK head coach Mark Stoops said junior fullback Will Thomas Collins should return to the field this week after leaving the Vanderbilt game with a knee injury. Senior cornerback Fred Tiller, who has been used primarily on special teams this season, returned to practice this week after injuring his neck at Vanderbilt.

Dawson pleased with Towles’ response: Junior quarterback Patrick Towles took to Twitter Monday to voice his support for Barker after losing his starting job.

Apparently that support has carried over to the practice field.

“He’s been awesome,” Dawson said. “Been awesome. Even in the course of the game when we put Drew in there, that kid – Patrick’s a great kid – got great character, and it was no doubt in my mind that if that happened that he’d be 100 percent supportive, and he has been. He’s been good.”

Revisiting goal-line failure: After reviewing the film of Kentucky’s loss to Vanderbilt, the offense’s failure to score any points on two drives that offered a first-and-goal inside the 5-yard line loomed just as large for Dawson as it did immediately after the game.

“We threw the ball twice where we shouldn’t have,” Dawson said. “Really, that’s the two I would do different. Everything else really had a chance to score. It was just all about execution and hitting it hard. But, those two were bad, and so ultimately I’ve got to do a better job of coaching those situations, and I will.”

Both passes – a second-and-goal throw from the 1-yard line in the first quarter that ended in an incompletion and a second-and-goal throw from the 3-yard line in the second quarter that was intercepted in the end zone – were called run plays on which Towles had the option to throw if he liked the matchup the defense gave him.

“You can throw it if you see the leverage you like and not throw it if you don’t see the leverage you like,” Dawson said. “I have to do a better job of teaching that leverage that we like. Bottom line.”

The red-zone failures were a symptom of the offense’s struggles in most short-yardage situations in the game. Dawson reported the offense was just 1 for 6 on third-and-short plays.

The failures on goal-line situations were among a handful of plays that marred the overall performance in Nashville, Dawson said.

“Overall, we didn’t play that bad,” Dawson said. “I know people probably don’t want to hear that, don’t want to believe that or whatever, but there’s about four plays in that game that if you take those four plays away we probably win 30-0.

“But you can’t take those plays away, and ultimately we failed on those four plays, and that failure cost us the game. Bottom line. I can’t sugarcoat it. It is what it is. I’m not naïve. We got to do better in those situations.”

Email Jon Hale atjahale@courier-journal.com. Follow him on Twitter@JonHale_CJ.