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Does Kentucky have a quarterback problem? The answer is yes.
Can Kentucky fix the quarterback problem? The answer is yet to be determined.
North Carolina State transfer Devin Leary was almost hailed as the “savior” for the 2023 season when he arrived at UK. All summer we heard about his amazing accuracy and how catchable his passes were compared to previous UK quarterback Will Levis, a second-round NFL draft pick.
Leary has completed 92 of 168 throws — a 54.8 percent mark — for 1,257 yards and 12 touchdowns with five interceptions this season. He has been sacked seven times.
In his five-year career, including his injury-shortened 2022 season, he has thrown for 8,064 yards with a career 59.4 percentage completion rate. He had thrown for 62 touchdowns with only 16 interceptions before this season.
However, Leary has had a lot of struggles this season and may not have been the best quarterback on the field in four of the six games UK has played going into this week’s pivotal game against Missouri.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops didn’t mince words about Leary after Saturday’s 51-13 loss to No. 1 Georgia. The quarterback missed a wide-open Tayvion Robinson on UK’s first drive that may have gone for a touchdown that would have tied the game 7-7. He missed several other throws later in the game.
“I was a little disappointed myself. Usually, I don’t say a whole lot during the game to a quarterback to not get them off but there’s no excuse to not hit some of those passes,” Stoops said of Leary’s performance. “I mean, we had some guys wide open.”
He finished the game 10 of 26 for 128 yards and two scores. The previous week he was just 9-for-19 against Florida for 69 yards and one score. The good news is that he’s not thrown an interception but that 19 of 45 for 197 yards in the last two games is a concern especially with some open throws he’s missed.
“I see the same thing. I can’t make any excuses for him,” Stoops told Tom Leach on the UK Radio Network after the Georgia loss. “There are open receivers. He has to step in there and make the throw. I told him that on the sideline. Overall, just not as good right now as he needs to be.”
Former all-SEC running back Anthony White has scrutinized Leary’s play and has been a Leary supporter since his arrival.
“At this point he has to answer questions. You can’t win games missing throws but then he puts some right on the money,” White said on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports.
There has been speculation that Leary’s injury from last season might still be hampering him. White thinks it is more mental than physical.
“I think there is a lot going on upstairs with him. He’s got to have coaches help him figure that out,” White said. “I also didn’t realize that Leary was 6-foot. That is a huge difference with our offensive linemen being 6-4 and the defensive linemen 6-5 across the board.
“I just think he needs some kind of therapy. He needs to find out some things for this team to move forward.”
Kentucky has receivers not at full speed and they likely will not be against Missouri. But the bigger issue is that Leary just does not look like the same quarterback he was at North Carolina State.
“He has to play really well down the stretch for them to have a really good season,” ESPN analyst Greg McElroy said late in Saturday night’s loss to Georgia — UK’s 14th straight to the Bulldogs.
No one understands that better than UK offensive coordinator Liam Coen and he didn’t mince words after the loss, either.
“We need to have a hard reset,” Coen said. “We got our butts kicked. Flat out, we got our butts kicked. When you get your butt kicked, there’s not a lot of people to blame.
“We’ve all got to look in the mirror. We’ve all got to reset. All of us on the offensive staff and players as well. If you can’t respond from this one, it’s going to be tough to respond to anything in life.”
Say amen Big Blue fans.
5 Responses
The whole UK team shares responsibility for this beat down, and they have acknowledged that. They were not prepared for this high stakes game, that was obvious on both sides of the ball. Coach Stoops even admitted that, and took responsibility. One problem I have with Coach Stoops is that it seems he can’t get his teams ready for big games. The other fact we all must face is the talent difference at Georgia versus Kentucky. That is still a huge problem, this game proved that.
Devin Leary seems to be a fine young man, but on the field of play for the blue and white, he has been a huge disappointment so far, let’s be honest. It’s very hard to understand how these experienced coaches, at this level, evaluated him so highly to start with. What about the other young men on this team behind him at the position, do they deserve a chance? It couldn’t have been much worse Saturday night had the backup QB been played much earlier, maybe just to settle Leary down. Maybe Leary looks good in practice with a red jersey on for no conduct, but freezes when live bullets are flying come game time. I don’t know. Also, the ACC is not the SEC, much different competition. Leary’s injury, his mental state maybe is in play now I’m sure. The problem for UK football IMO? I don’t think UK has a backup QB ready right now. If they did, he would have seen action much sooner this past Saturday night in Athens. Coen has to perform some magic now and settle Devin Leary down going forward or UK is in deep trouble in their passing game.
Everyone has given intellectual assent to the idea that everyone contributed to the debacle last Saturday. The real key will be action based which we will all be watching this Saturday when they kick it off against Mizzou.
Sorry guys but i have been UK Football for the darn near 50 years and this beat down looks very familiar. When we got whacked by TN last year, the Cats folded like a cheap suit and forget about coasting in against Louisville. We have to play inspired football the rest of the season or its a major step backwards for the program.
Yes, the offense struggled against UGA. Leary missed receivers. Receivers missed balls. Penalties ended possessions, and penalties extended UGA possessions.
This team has been struggling with each of these issues all season, and it seemed like as long as they posted W’s, then no need to address these issues. Now there is a L, and it seems like no one saw these issues until this week.
There were 2 big differences between game 6 and the first 5. The UK opponent is either the best of the best, or at worst, one of the best, and the game delivered the L instead of another W.
I believe that this team has run out of rope, and it must decide now what type of team it will be remembered as. Against Missouri, the world will find out. Either this team will get serious, pay attention to details, and have a single minded focus on winning, or this team will shrink into the shadows to hide the last half of the season.
I know what team I have been watching for the first 6 games, and a very well coached UGA team saw it too, and capitalized on each UK weakness. The road in the SEC is always a tough one, and each of the remaining 6 opponents not only have good coaches who can show their players how to exploit the UK weaknesses.
Time for excuses has passed.
If Leary can’t get the job done, Stoops need let the backup QB’s have a chance.