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  • Ceiling continues to rise for Patrick Towles

    By: LARRY VAUGHT



    Before Kentucky went to Florida to play, sophomore quarterback Patrick Towles explained how the game was becoming easier for him.

    “Being comfortable just comes with experience. I am seeing things way better than I did. I did better in fall camp than spring. Just repetitions get you better,” said Towles. “My goal is to be the best possible player that I can be. There is no saying where that is going to go. Lot higher. We are good right now, but we are going to be way better.

    “I am 100 percent there and I am going to increase that. You play the best that you can. I gave all I had today (in a win over Ohio). The more you give all you’ve got, the more that number and ceiling rises. My ceiling has risen and will continue to do that.”

    It looked that way at Florida Saturday in UK’s 36-30 triple overtime loss to the Gators.

    Towles completed 24 of 45 passes for 369 yards and three touchdowns against the Gators. He threw three interceptions, but two were deep passes that bounced off receivers that offensive coordinator Neal Brown felt should have been caught and could have added 70 or more passing yards to Towles’ total.

    Brown said Towles was “as on throwing the ball” as he had seen in his two years coaching at UK.

    “In here, in this atmosphere. I thought he did a great job keeping plays alive, not taking sacks,” Brown said after the game. “I thought he did a really good job running the football when we asked him to do that. I was extremely proud of how he played and it was a big step in his maturation process.”

    Florida had not given up that many passing yards since 2007 and had given up 300 yards passing in just one game in the last seven years. Towles was also the first UK quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards since 2010 as Brown’s Air Raid offense finally took flight.

    Going into UK’s bye week, Towles has already thrown for 916 yards and ran for 111 while accounting for six touchdowns. He’s 19th nationally and third in the SEC with 305 yards passing per game. That’s a big reason UK’s offense has risen to 48th nationally in scoring at 36.3 points per game and 34th in total offense at 503.7 yards per game. Kentucky through three games is averaging 320 yards passing — or about 127 more per game than last season when Towles was being redshirted.

    “This is what you come to Kentucky for. You come to Kentucky to play in the Swamp or Death Valley or at Alabama,” Towles said before UK played at Florida.

    He came close to ending UK’s frustrating losing streak to Florida after 27 years before the Gators escaped in overtime.

    Towles said the locker room was “definitely not a fun one to be in” after the game.

    “We felt like we did enough to win the football game. Sometimes that happens. The ball bounces not our way tonight. Great effort, great effort all around. It's definitely something we can build on. Coach Brown talked about there's no moral victories in this program. There's not. What happened tonight is not acceptable. We'll get better, we'll look at the film and be ready for Vandy in two weeks,” Towles said.

    Towles said the Cats are intent on showing this is a new Kentucky program under Mark Stoops.

    "The whole thing about us 'not supposed to' is gone. That's old Kentucky. That's four or five years ago,” Towles said. “That's not now. We expect to win every football game that we play. We expected to win this game. We came down off the plane ready to win this football game. It didn't happen.

    “These new players, these freshmen and sophomores that we've got, it's just a testament to how hard coach Stoops has — or how good he is on the recruiting trail. He went out and got those playmakers to succeed and excel in moments like these.”

    Brown said not to talk about moral victories and Towles agreed.

    “We've made progress, but obviously not enough or we would have won that game. Like I said, losing sucks. It's awful. I hate it. It's not something that's going to become a habit around here,” Towles said.

    That looked obvious late in the game when UK was backed up at its 1-yard line. Rather than trying to gain a few yards with a run to set up a safer punt, Stoops told Brown to go for the 16 yards the Cats needed for a first down and Towles responded with a 20-yard strike to Garrett Johnson.

    “That was a big-tme throw right on the money,” Stoops said on his postgame radio show. “It was extremely loud ot there and with all that roaring, he throws a strike and gives us an opportunity to go for the win. He did a lot of good things.”

    Towles knew his teammates did, too.

    "Missed some opportunities and made some plays. I left some plays out there, but I gave everything I had. So that's one thing you can deal with. You've got guys flying around, giving all they've got, sometimes people just make mistakes,” Towles said. “I'm happy with everybody's effort."
    Comments 10 Comments
    1. Terry Blue's Avatar
      Terry Blue -
      I'm happy with everyone's effort also
    1. dan_bgblue's Avatar
      dan_bgblue -
      Thanks very much. Lots of great comments from Towles. His comments sure sound like those of a leader and one who is as competitive as heck
    1. CGWildcat's Avatar
      CGWildcat -
      Well done! I'm betting our boys come out in 2 weeks and put Vanderbilt in the SEC Basement to stay!
    1. catmanjack's Avatar
      catmanjack -
      I mentioned that pass out of the end zone in the 4th
      to get a first and that showed he is a gamer and pressure
      will not bother him.
      To me that was one of the big time passes in
      UK history.
    1. jazyd's Avatar
      jazyd -
      He played very well, one of the best QB's in the league right now, better than his first two games
    1. anderwt's Avatar
      anderwt -
      It's amazing what can happen to a program like uk when you get good QB play. It's gives you a chance each game and that's all you can ask for.. This bye week couldn't have happened at a better time. Get the guys spirits back up. I think that number 6 is realistic shot now. Take care of Vandy and the other ulm.. Can you find 2 more? I think you can
    1. Darrell KSR's Avatar
      Darrell KSR -
      Quote Originally Posted by jazyd View Post
      He played very well, one of the best QB's in the league right now, better than his first two games
      Bold statement, but I won't disagree.
    1. CatQuick's Avatar
      CatQuick -
      Quote Originally Posted by jazyd View Post
      He played very well, one of the best QB's in the league right now, better than his first two games
      I thought about who I would trade Towles for in the SEC. Maybe Kenny Hill at A&M, but probably not. I think he is as good as any other starter with more upside.
    1. CitizenBBN's Avatar
      CitizenBBN -
      He looked awfully good for a QB in what I really consider his first year as a SEC QB. I know he played in some games as a frosh but it wasn't really "his team" as they say. This is, and it looked pretty good.
    1. jazyd's Avatar
      jazyd -
      Darrell, I thought he put more zip on the ball against UF, looked poised, and really which qb's are really a bunch better? Wallace at Ole Miss has experience but not the arm, Hill we have seen one game against a good team that played horrible, I love Prescott at MSU but he isn't quite as good throwing the ball, neither one at Ala right now, nor UGA, USC, certainly not UF qb as he doesn't throw the deep ball well...thank goodness... When you factor in his size and ability to run with deceptive speed, he is playing very well. 2 of those int's were not his fault.
      Quote Originally Posted by Darrell KSR View Post
      Bold statement, but I won't disagree.
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