UK Football Advantageous of Second Half

By: LONNY DEMAREE




After the Wildcats took a halftime lead of 31-7 over Alabama State it was anticipated the offensive brain thrust would take advantage of the opportunity to turn the second half into a glorified scrimmage. This means use the big lead to allow Jalen Whitlow a chance to work on his passing-game when the bullets were flying. That appears to be exactly what happened. Whitlow threw eleven passes in the first half and fifteen passes from the beginning of the third quarter to the 11:50 mark in the fourth quarter.

The often worn out coaches cliché of we took what the defense gave us is either they or holding something back or it points out an offensive weakness in their arsenal. Is it better to be the thermostat and set the temperature or be the thermometer and take the temperature? We say that if you are good enough you take what you want and dictate the game from the offensive side.
So the coach surmised Whitlow throws well downfield but not so well with his short passes. Neal Brown said he rushes the short ones. They can use the second half performance of Whitlow as a teaching tool.

We asked the coach what he thought about Jalen Whitlow’s game. The coach said they watched the tape and they thought he and the team did some good things. “I thought Jalen did a nice job making some plays with his feet,” Stoops said. “I thought he did a nice job throwing at times.”
To the aforementioned teaching tool the coaches had to use Stoops verified the used of the second half. “There were a few throws that stuck out to me during the game that I know we missed. But after having watched the tape I really thought he did a good job as well.”

Stoops said they did want to work on the passing game in the second half. He said – “We wanted to keep on working and improving in that area.” Stoops said Whitlow throws some good passes downfield but on too many of the short passes he is short-arming, being too accurate and aiming the ball, and or guiding the ball. “I think don’t we need to get into over coaching that with him,” the coach lamented. “He just needs to get a feel, get reps, and get playing time. He’s going to get better and better.”

The teaching tools for game preparation are pretty much gone and the rest of the season is crunch time.