UK quarterback showed potential at Florida

LEXINGTON, Ky.

Quarterback Patrick Towles showed his University of Kentucky coaches – and maybe even himself – something last Saturday at The Swamp, where he accounted for 391 total yards and three touchdowns in a triple-overtime upset bid that fell just short against Florida.

"He really did some outstanding things," coach Mark Stoops said. "Just some of the throws were really big-time throws. And I think he showed a lot of poise. I mean, y'all were there in that hostile environment. The place was extremely loud. Really, I thought he handled himself very well."

Especially in the most pressure-packed moment of all: third-and-16 from his own 1-yard line with the game tied and 73 seconds left in regulation. Towles stood tall in the back of his end zone, with pass-rushers all around him, and delivered a 22-yard strike down the middle to receiver Garrett Johnson.

"That's the situation you play as a kid, (pretending) you need a really, really, big play, a really, really big throw," Towles said. "The best players don't get affected by things like that. You know, it was loud; I'll give you that. It was the loudest situation I've ever been in, in my entire life."

Unfortunately for the Cats, Towles was picked off two plays later – on a well-thrown deep ball that would've given UK a shot at avoiding OT if it hadn't bounced off receiver Ryan Timmons' hands and straight to a Florida defender. Still, the sophomore QB discovered something that night.

"Just that I could hang, I guess. Not that I didn't think that before, but it's nice to go out there and play with the best," he said. "We're going to play some better teams than them this year, but they're really, really tough. So it was nice to go out there and sling it around a little bit."

Towles' first three career starts have been impressive: 916 passing yards, 158 rushing yards (not counting sacks), six total touchdowns and three interceptions. He ranks third among SEC quarterbacks in both passing and rushing. At his position, only Mississippi State's Dak Prescott and Auburn's Nick Marshall, well-known runners, have more yards on the ground.

If not for sacks, Towles would lead Kentucky in rushing and average 5.6 yards per carry. He ranks 19th nationally in passing yards per game (305.3) and top-five among FBS quarterbacks in completions of 20-plus yards (17), 30-plus (8), 40-plus (4), 50-plus (3), 60-plus (2) and 70-plus (1). He's beginning to look like the former four-star recruit and Kentucky Mr. Football who led Highlands to three straight state titles.

"You never really know" how good a guy will be in college until he plays, offensive coordinator Neal Brown said. "I always thought he would be. I really thought with his pedigree and where he's from and where he had to play his high school ball and all those things, I really expected him to answer the bell. And he has. He's played at a really high level. I know that he's capable of playing a lot better than he even played on Saturday night."

Like Towles, several heavily hyped true freshmen needed to prove themselves at this level for the Cats, and so far most of them have. Tailbacks Mikel Horton and Stanley Boom Williams have combined for 198 yards and four touchdowns on 30 offensive touches and four of UK's top six receivers are rookies.

Freshmen Garrett Johnson, Dorian Baker, Blake Bone and T.V. Williams have combined for 26 catches, 448 yards and four touchdowns. Johnson, Baker and Bone have each made at least one play already that no Wildcats wideout has made in recent memory.

"It does make you feel a lot better, because we bragged on them and thought they were very good players coming in," Stoops said. "But until they get here, you never really know. And certainly the first two games at home in a comfortable environment, they played well. Not perfect, but did some good things. And then to go see us take it up a notch at Florida, that's what you need.

"And those are the type of playmakers and that's the type of competitors you need in your program. So, I've been very encouraged. Again, we're far from perfect. We got a lot of work to do with those guys. But it is nice to see some playmaking ability."

While Brown admits the youngsters were "a little wide-eyed early" at Florida, "but I thought once we started rolling, once the first guy made a play, then they all started coming on."

While true freshmen are making a major impact on the team, only eight of the 25 who signed in UK's top-20 recruiting class in February have played: the six mentioned above, plus defensive back Kendall Randolph and defensive tackle Matt Elam. The rest are expected to redshirt.

But with this weekend off and 13 days between games, might some of Kentucky's other rookies work their way off the scout team and into the lineup?

"Yeah," Stoops said. "I'm not sitting here telling you that because somebody's going to jump out at us and play next week. But yeah, we talk about it and look at them and we certainly work with those guys a lot right now. It's good to get around them again and get some reps with them."

Brown said guys like four-star QB Drew Barker and four-star receiver Thaddeus Snodgrass "got a bunch of work" this week in practice, as did T.V. Williams, "who didn't play as much in the last game," and senior wideout Javess Blue, who has battled an ankle injury.

"Trying to get him back in the routine," Brown said. "I think this two weeks – this week off, this week of practicing during the bye week and then next week leading into Vanderbilt – I think you'll see a lot more production from him."

Junior punter Landon Foster, once a Freshman All-American, has bounced back from a rough sophomore season (caused in part by an injury last summer). He's averaging 42.4 yards per punt, but that hardly tells the story. Eight of his 12 punts (66.7 percent) this season have been downed inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

Last season, when he averaged 41.3 yards, only 15 of 68 punts (22 percent) were downed inside the 20.

"It was big last week in particular with their return guys," Stoops said. "I just thought he was exceptional. He's been extremely clean. We never talk about it because the operation's been perfect and he's been hitting great punts and had great hang time. The whole punt team did a great job."