By Keith Taylor
Special to NKyTribune
Shannon Dawson doesn’t have a timetable set for naming starting quarterback. With the season opener three weeks away, the University of Kentucky offensive coordinator gave no hint Friday as to who will be the Wildcats’ starting quarterback. Instead of putting one over the other, Dawson praised returning starter Patrick Towles and Drew Barker.
“I feel comfortable right now with either one of those guys,” he said. “Right now, both of them are playing at a high level. They’re doing a good job as far as progressing along with the offense, being a good leader, having a great attitude and even demander. Couldn’t ask any more (of them).”
Towles and Barker are not only competing with the bar raised high, but both have a grasp of Dawson’s playbook, which is similar to the one employed by former offensive coordinator Neal Brown.
“Both of them (have knowledge of the offense),” Dawson said. “I have the same amount of time with both of them (and) both of them, since the beginning and now have certain things to work on. A lot of it was just calming down as far as in the pocket. I like a presence in the pocket that is basically like a calm in the storm than being in the center of a hurricane. With reps and knowledge, that tends to relax you a little more. They look the part right now.”
Towles said a decision on who will be in the pocket in the season-opener on Sept. 5 against Louisiana Lafayette needed to be made sooner rather than later. A big determinator will be Saturday’s intra-squad scrimmage, which could create a degree of separation between the two signal callers.
Traditionally, Dawson has relied on the passing game to set up the running scheme, but said that’s not been the case during the past few years.
“We were so pass-heavy, nobody played up on us,” Dawson said. “It’s leveled off to where when we get into heavier stuff (on offense), people respect the run, because we will call it a lot. Now, it’s more of the run setting up (opposing defenses).”
Dawson added that defensive schemes, especially in the Southeastern Conference, also have changed schematically.
“You don’t see a lot of two high safeties over the top,” he said. “It’s more of a man-coverage deal. When you catch (opposing defenses) in a zone, you can manipulate those safeties a little bit. You’ve got to make plays down the field. Every league now is more of a man league. There’s an emphasis on two things across the nation: Rushing the passer and covering. If you look at defenses years ago, it was get big, stop the run and play zone defense.”
Dawson has been pleased with the progression of Kentucky’s receivers and particularly likes the way Dorian Baker is progressing.
“Dorian is making plays every other day,” Dawson said. “We had a lot of kids make plays (and) that was good to see.”
Kentucky’s running backs have also picked up on Dawson’s schemes and he likes having more than featured back to depend on. The team’s current list of ball carriers include Boom Williams, JoJo Kemp, Mikel Horton, William Mahone and newcomer Sihiem King.
“I don’t see any of them with ball skills I have to worry about,” Dawson said. “All of them have good enough ball skills to make plays. Those guys are doing a great job and I know we ran the ball really, really well (Friday).”
Dawson said it will be hard to keep the ball out of King’s hands.
“He outruns people,” Dawson said. “Really, that was one of the first things I saw with him. If you watch his highlight films (from high school). He had a bunch of big runs. He didn’t play in a league that was a bad league. He’s playing really well for a freshman. He’s learning from a good core group, which is good.”
Keith Taylor is a sports columnist for KyForward.com.