Mark Stoops likes the relationship that quarterback Terry Wilson has developed with receiver Josh Ali — he leads UK with 16 catches for 186 yards after making only 23 catches in 13 games last year — but knows there is still more that could and should happen.
“I think they both have been working really well together, they both have been working really hard. I think in the first game (at Auburn) we had another explosive play (with Josh),” Stoops said Monday. “We had a shot down the field, possibly a touchdown and definitely a big play, if we just get a fraction more protection.”
Those wondering about tight end production in the passing game might want to pay attention to what Stoops said next.
“In both games it (the protection) came from our tight end position with the way we were protecting it. We have to fundamentally hold up and protect, I’m talking a half-second, or a second, we get that block cleaned up and we’re going to strike Josh down the field with a huge play,” Stoops said. “We’ve been off on that just fractions. I think there’s some big plays waiting for them out there. They’re both playing well.
“Josh made two or three really difficult catches. That’s what good wideouts have to do. Terry threw the ball up in a spot and Josh made a couple nice catches and that’s how we’re going to continue to elevate the passing game and get more and more confidence.”
Stoops said UK could have thrown for more yards against Ole Miss but was running the ball so effectively it was not necessary and was a way to keep the ball away from an explosive offense, something UK will likely try to do again this week when it hosts Mississippi State.
“I was very pleased with Terry Wilson (against Ole Miss). I thought he really bounced back. We challenged him after the opener and he came back in the second game and played really well. He rushed for 147 (pre-sack) yards and we put that on him,” Stoops said. “We wanted to put some pressure on the defense with our Q-run (quarterback run) game. That adds a lot of pressure on the defense and you could see how effective we were at running the football.
“Also throwing the ball he was very effective, 14-of-18 for 151 yards, really with just two complete drops or he’s going to throw for 200 yards and rush for 147 and could have been more in the pass game easily. We were just having so much success in the run game and also we were struggling so much defensively that when we were getting ready to throw the ball we felt like there were some plays there for sure.
“We just kept getting chunks with the run game and it obviously helped us with getting the defense some rest for a bit because there were parts of that game where we were just really out of sorts defensively.”
