Towles has support from Stoops

By: LARRY VAUGHT



After Patrick Towles threw two first-half interceptions against Eastern Kentucky last week, many wondered if coach Mark Stoops might turn to backup quarterback Drew Barker.

After all, Stoops said early in the week that Barker would play for the first time this season — probably because he expected an easier game than UK had before rallying to win in overtime.

Towles completed just 10 of 19 passes the first half for 121 yards. In the second half, he was 19 of 23 for 208 yards and three scores.

Stoops somewhat explained his thinking on his weekly radio show Monday night.

“Patrick is our starting quarterback. Some day when Drew’s our starting quarterback, he’s going to want that same support from me,” said Stoops.

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson said he was “proud” of Towles after the game. Both Dawson and Stoops had partially defended Towles earlier this season when he was not sharp in a loss to Florida, a performance that is a bit easier to understand after the way Florida’s defense dominated Mississippi last week.

“He was put in a position a couple of times where he got a lot of pressure. Now he needs to do a better job of just throwing it away: Play the next play. I think that’s something we can get better at,” Dawson said. “Ultimately, he showed some grit (against Eastern) because he kept battling. He kept battling and it’s sad to say this, but the games like this, you really see it every week about you see teams that play up, that play well.”

Perhaps leading UK on two touchdown drives late in the fourth quarter to tie the game and then throwing the winning touchdown pass in overtime will boost Towles’ confidence going into next week’s nationally televised game on ESPN against Auburn.

“I hope it helps. The first three and a half quarters didn’t help me any. But he did ultimately push through and showed some grit and played well,” Dawson said. I think there are some underlying positives in it and I always try to look for the positives and the biggest positive for me is we kept playing. We were in a situation at the end where there was two touchdowns and we weren’t moving the ball. So we dug deep and we went down there.

“I don’t think there’s any better learning experience — I don’t think you get better in those situations without being in those situations. Now, unfortunately we were in that situation. The positive is we actually pulled through in that situation.”

To Towles, that’s all that mattered. The win got UK to 4-1.

“We’re ready for Auburn. We have to play a full game, a full four quarters. I have to play a full four quarters, no doubt about it,” Towles said. “But we came back and won. We had more points than them at the end of the game and that’s what matters.”

Well, maybe a little bigger margin would have been easier for Stoops, Towles and UK fans. However, the thought is right. For Kentucky football, there are still no bad wins. Remember UK had lost six straight games to in-state teams — four to Louisville, two to Western Kentucky.

Dawson and Stoops are also a lot more patient than Kentucky fans have been when he has not been at his best.

Dawson says fans don’t always understand that perfect plays are not called and it is players, not coaches, who make plays work.

“That’s where I wanted him to get to was the fact that his overall comfort level on the field made bad calls good. Because that’s when you become a good offense. I don’t care who the playcaller is across America. You don’t call perfect plays. There might be a time or two in a game where you catch them in the perfect deal. There’s very few times like that,” Dawson said. “The majority of the time it’s you’ve got to program a quarterback to have a place to go with the ball regardless of the circumstances, and it happens more naturally when they feel a certain comfort level out there.”

Stoops said successful quarterbacks have a level of trust with coaches and teammates. He uses Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers as someone who finds open receivers because he’s calm in the pocket and trusts his instincts.

“I don’t think you can get to that point over night. You just can’t. Everybody is so impatient today. I get that,” Stoops said. “Nobody is more impatient than me, but things don’t happen overnight like that. They just don’t. It takes playing football.”