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  • Quotes from Newton, Smith, Joker on QB

    By: LARRY VAUGHT



    He was the fans’ choice going into preseason camp and now Maxwell Smith is the choice of Kentucky coach Joker Phillips and offensive coordinator to be UK’s starting quarterback when the Wildcats open the season Sept. 2 at Louisville.

    Smith, a sophomore, completed 26 of 33 passes for 174 against Mississippi State last year when starter Morgan Newton was injured and followed that by leading UK to a win over Mississippi when he threw for 283 yards, the most ever by a Kentucky freshman, and two touchdowns. In his last four games before he was hurt, Smith completed 57.5 percent of his passes for 769 yards and four touchdowns with just two interceptions.

    “I heard about it this morning. Coach Joker and coach Sanders were together and they called me in, and that’s when I found out. I felt good, felt great. That’s what I’ve been working for since I was a little kid, to get a job to start on an SEC team,” said Smith after Monday’s practice. “It might not have been SEC at the time; you know I’m a West Coast guy. It might’ve been Pac-10 at the time, but I’m glad to be where I am and looking forward to having a real good season.”

    Smith said he was never sure he would win the job and did the only thing he could — “work as hard as I could” — and that paid off.

    Smith and Newton, a senior, went into the preseason drills listed co-No. 1 on the depth chart to give Newton a chance to reclaim the spot he lost and to prove he had fully recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. However, Sanders noted several times in the past few weeks that Newton was having problems coming off the injury and that Smith was well ahead of freshmen Patrick Towles and Jalen Whitlow.

    Newton has started 17 games, including eight as a freshman in 2009 after Mike Hartline was hurt, and thrown for 2,216 yards and has a combined 18 scores rushing and passing. But last year he struggled and completed just 47.7 percent of his passes for 784 yards and eight touchdowns with seven interceptions before injuring his shoulder and missing the final four games. He goes into the season as the backup quarterback with no announcement made on whether Towles or Whitlow will be No. 3.

    “You’ve just got to respect the coaches’ decision. It was going to be tough for me anyway, just coming back from shoulder (surgery). I’m still coming back, so I’m just working hard on that and working hard on being a good teammate. That’s the only thing I can do,” Newton said.

    The senior even kept his sense of humor to some degree.

    “People will start liking me again now that I’m the backup. That’s just the nature of the business. It’s the SEC; it’s a tough league. There probably will be opportunity,” Newton said. “Not wishing anything bad, but you’ve just got to be ready. Always just a snap away. This will be my fourth time seeing some of these teams, so I’ll be able to help out a lot and try to contribute that way.”

    Phillips praised both Smith and Newton for the way they “handled” the quarterback competition.

    “They have both done a great job of preparing and both done a great job of competing. When I was asked about this position (head coach), and the difference going from one chair to another, was the difference is having to make the tough decisions and be accountable for them. This is one of the tougher decisions I have had to make. We have two quarterbacks that we feel like we can win with,” Phillips said.

    “A lot of things go into making this decision. There are a lot of different ingredients. We have to think about leadership and both of them are great leaders. Both of them have great knowledge of our offense. I think consistency and who can get the ball into the end zone and who can continue to lead this offense. Max Smith, we feel, gives us the best chance to win at this point and he will be our starting quarterback versus Louisville.”

    It also seems obvious now that Whitlow likely will be No. 3 and Towles redshirted. Phillips vowed in mid-July to not go into another season without a Wildcat quarterback — someone who could run or throw to confuse a defense on a given play — and Whitlow is that type of quarterback. He could also possibly play some at receiver much like Randall Cobb did his freshman year when he sometimes relieved Hartline.

    Towles is the pure dropback passer who also has good mobility, but redshirting him would give him an extra year of eligibility rather than waste a year with him as a little used backup — something Kentucky doesn’t need from last year’s Kentucky Mr. Football.

    Whitlow has also drawn rave reviews from those who have seen practice for his athleticism and playmaking ability. He threw two touchdown passes in Saturday’s scrimmage, including one of 40 yards on the final play.

    “They’re two awesome talents. Now where they fit in, in the whole mix, I’m not really sure; that’s another thing you’ll have to ask the coaches and what they want from those guys,” Newton said. “But they’re two guys that can really play — and Jalen especially. Those guys can really go, and Patrick has a big arm.”
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    Harlow

    Re: Oakland v UK hall of fame

    See ya next guys with a new coach

    Harlow 03-22-2024, 08:36 AM Go to last post