If you listened to Mark Stoops on the SEC Teleconference today, you can tell he is really frustrated with the play at the quarterback position.
Stoops said earlier in the week that he wanted one player to step forward and lead this team, and it seems like neither player is willing to do that just yet.
We are now four games into the season, you would think either Smith or Whitlow would have taken charge of this offense by now. Saturday against Florida Jalen was moving the ball pretty good on Kentucky’s first drive and then was taken out and replaced by Max Smith, this move had me puzzled to say the least. After the subsitutuion, Kentucky failed to get another first down in that series, resulting in the play of the game by Joe Mansour.
Stoops said he gave one guy the majority of the reps in practice Tuesday and was very disappointed in the way that player practiced. Here is what he had to say to Kyle Tucker during the SEC teleconference today.
You know what? No, Kyle. To be honest with you, I’m a little bit disappointed. We gave one of the guys more reps yesterday and he really didn’t have a great practice. So to be honest with you, it’s very frustrating. We’ve got to make a decision, but like I said before, I’m not going to panic and just name one just because we’re all frustrated and we’re not getting consistent play out of the quarterbacks. We need to find the right one. And I’m not very happy. I don’t think we’ve been very consistent there. It’s been odd. Last week, one of our quarterbacks looked lights-out (in practice), threw the ball as good as he has since we’ve been here, and goes in the game and doesn’t play as well as he should. Now, we planned on going with one guy yesterday and he goes out and just has a very average to below-average practice. So overall, just not very pleased.
With Kentucky traveling to South Carolina this week, can Max Smith handle the pressure the Gamecock defense will put on him? The answer is no. While Smith has a good presence in the pocket, he lacks the ability to run and avoid what have been costly sacks all season. Whitlow on the other hand can get out of those situations using his legs.
Now the question is “Who should be Kentucky’s starting quarterback?”
I have said all season I think Whitlow should be the starter. He is more mobile, moves around good in the pocket and has a pretty accurate throw. Jalen just needs to get off to a fast start like he did against Florida, if he can do that he will be alright.
With that being said I still think you will see both quarterbacks play against South Carolina on Saturday.
