Is Mark Stoops Four Bowls an Outlier to Continued Success?

By: LONNY DEMAREE

There have been and there are still some naysayers who have a hard time buying UK football ever rising to the height of the Citrus Bowl and beyond on a yearly basis.

They were right on the cusp early in this season of saying “I told you so.” The bottom was right on the cliff of the bottom falling out of the season before the Cats won 5 of the last 7 games.

There are a sizable amount of players returning off this season’s team. To be exact there are 20 players returning that have started at least one game. Stoops has built his team the right way. He understands that to win in the SEC they have to be able to run the football. Sure throwing the football forty times a game is sexy but the game of football has become fast and very physical.

* I’m often asked if the Wildcats are going to throw the football. I can’t say definitively because I’m not in practice like days gone by. Since the infusion of the internet and social media the media and public has been in an awkward position. We don’t wish to delude our readers.

* What kind of quarterback is UK going to recruit – pro style or dual threat?

* Post Lynn Bowden are the Cats going to go back to a more balanced offense?

* How is it that the Wildcats have won with a one-dimensional offense when the other team knows they are not knows they are not likely to throw the football?

* Where will Bowden go in the Pro draft?

Let’s now address these questions:
* I know there are those who want the ball in the air although the proponents of the Air Raid are diminishing in numbers.

* In every recruiting cycle the best quarterback will be taken. Every good offensive coordinator will tailor their offense with their schemes to fit their talent.

* Mark Stoops said recently in a press conference Stoops said he was going back to throwing the football and this drew a facetious response.

* Every good coach builds his team from the inside-out on both side of the football. When that happens it’s very difficult to stop the running game especially when there a Lynn Bowden back. When there is no Bowden back there it’s not necessary to have a Heisman Trophy quarterback. A ball control quarterback can win and with a great offensive live the quarterback style has no control pedigree as long as they aren’t statues back there.

* If Bowden can lead the Wildcats to a bowl win and having Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in the Kroger Field stadium during the Arkansas game when the Cats fell behind 13-3 should help Bowden get into the first round. Jones saw his leadership, his competitiveness, his leadership.

The culture has changed and it's not hard to see the Cats climbing up the SEC ladder. And the SEC East is doable.