Devin Leary Knows he Has to Start Doing What he’s Coached to Do

Vicky Graff Photo

Certainly quarterback Devin Leary has to be hearing the doubts about his play so far even though UK is 5-1 and ranked 24th nationally and he has thrown for 1,257 yards and 12 touchdowns. However, his 54.8 completion percentage is well below the mark he had at North Carolina State before transferring to UK and he’s also thrown five interceptions in six games.

In the last two games, he’s just a combined 19 of 45 passing for 197 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. Leary knows he has to be better in the remaining SEC games starting with Saturday night against Missouri.

Leary doesn’t think it is a complicated process to become more productive.

“Honestly, just making the layups. Making the easy throws,” Leary said. “Getting back to the way I’ve always played. Just doing what you practice to do. Do what you’re coached to do. For me, it’s just take it one play at a time, take a deep breath before the play and just execute.”

Leary makes no excuses. He doesn’t question the protection he’s received or receivers either running wrong routes or dropping balls. Instead, he blames himself for the offensive struggles.

“At the end of the day, those throws need to be made, those completions need to be made,” Leary said. “I’m my biggest critic. I always tell the offense that it starts with me, how I’m managing the game, how I’m operating the offense.

“There’s no excuse for it to be one step off or one yard away from the catch. It’s my job to give those guys a chance and make sure that we can make plays and that didn’t happen on Saturday (at Georgia). I’ve got to be better.”

He was a lot better at North Carolina State when he threw for 6,807 yards, went 17-9 as a starter and completed 60.2 percent of his passes before he suffered a  tear in his right pectoralis major midway of the 2022 season.

Leary insists he’s healthy. When asked Tuesday if the injury had impacted his motion or accuracy, he quickly said no.

“We are an explosive group who can make a lot of plays but if we hurt ourselves we just kind of stop that rhythm from happening,” Leary said.

Leary has been better in the second halves of most games but says he has to help the team start faster than it has in most games. He missed throws early at Georgia and  UK quickly was out of the game.

“It starts with  me. If we complete that ball early (at Georgia) it feels like a whole different game,” he said.  “I know I can make those throws because we do it all the time in practice.”

Leary calls Missouri a “really good defensive group” that does different things in the secondary to confuse quarterbacks.

“They are tough, they are hard nosed. They take pride in playing man to man coverage and loading up the box. We know it will be a tough four quarter game,” he said.

He said no loss is easy to take and as a team leader who is playing for the fifth season, he has to help the team move on from the loss.

“You cannot let it snowball. You have to learn from your mistakes and not let it happen again,” Leary said.