Mark Stoops considers QB position 'a strength' in 2020

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Mark Stoops considers QB position 'a strength' in 2020

ByRiley Gates

7-8 minutes

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Coming off of a 10-win season in 2018, Kentucky had high expectations for the 2019 football season. And the Wildcats weren’t necessarily a letdown, posting eight more wins last year. But if the most important position on the field had been stronger, that win total might have been bigger.

Quarterback Terry Wilson, a three-star recruit out of Garden City Community College, was expected to lead the Wildcats last year, but a torn patellar tendon allowed him to play just two games in 2019 and forcing Mark Stoops to use Lynn Bowden in the quarterback spot.

The 2019 season was rather questionable for Kentucky under center. But entering the 2020 season, Wilson is healthy once again and the backups are strong. On the Paul Finebaum Show on Friday, Stoops explained his excitement for the quarterback position in 2020.

“I feel like the quarterback position is a strength,” Stoops said. “You know, you get Terry back, I feel very good about Terry. We are putting him in as many situations as we can to get him game ready. But you know, he'll have a bit of rust. We have to play good around him as well. But I like what I'm seeing out of Terry. I feel like he has his strength back, he has his quickness, he has no fear with pulling the ball down and scrambling and buying time and throwing the ball down the field, or scrambling to run for yards. He's still very quick and very electric with the ball in his hands.”

It is easy to see how losing Terry in 2019 was a blow to the Wildcats. As a sophomore in 2018, Wilson completed 67.2 percent of his passes for 1,889 yards and 11 touchdowns. He also contributed 547 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. But there’s no question that there is some concern about his health holding up in 2020.

But if Wilson were to go down again, Stoops still feels strong about his quarterback situation. With options like Beau Allen and potentially Auburn transfer Joey Gatewood, Stoops likes what he has at quarterback this year.

“And then, you know, we don't know about Joey Gatewood yet, the Auburn transfer. So, I'm waiting to hear whether he gets cleared or not by the first game,” Stoops said. “And then, Beau Allen, you have a true freshman that we've been recruiting for a long time that's really impressed us, and  is back with us, is very healthy this year and looking good. So, I feel like it went from a weakness maybe a year ago, until we got Lynn going, then it became a strength. But it was difficult for a while that transition when we got some injuries. This year we felt like we have some more options for sure.”

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