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Stephen Johnson . . .

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Soupbean

All-American
Jan 19, 2007
5,945
8,109
0
I don't want this to turn into a bash of the kid because he has played his heart out and lead us to a resurgence no doubt, BUT his limitations in the passing game are making it hard to get over the hump against better teams.

I know its not easy to fix technical flaws mid season but I hope Hinshaw can work on his delivery to get him to release the ball higher so that he can get on top of the ball and get some touch on the short passes. The way he releases the ball from below his shoulder it's virtually impossible for him to throw anything over the line. His trajectory just wont allow it time to come back down in a short field. That's why he airmails those passes and has such a hard time connecting on the Conrad slip through play.

He can throw the deep ball because it's easy to put arch on it and he can throw on the edges when he has clear passing lanes, but when things are tight and he has to throw over a line it just doesn't work. Not physically possible from where he releases it.

That's why we are struggling to score inside the 10, we just are so limited in what we can execute.

I hope he can work it out because I love his grit and think he has stepped into a tough situation and done better than anyone thought he could.
 
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Bank Cat

All-American
Dec 8, 2011
3,552
5,238
113
We would literally probably be 7-3 if he could execute that pass to Conrad. Like most-I root for the guy.
I agree that it needs to be fixed because I have zero confidence that Barker ever plays another down. Back surgery is a horrible business!

Hoak may be the guy but a senior with experience or a RS freshman?
 
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BARRYBLUE1

All-Conference
Feb 1, 2013
2,105
1,795
0
Will not beat good teams until we get better than average qb. It seems all our ills for the last 40 years are Stoops' fault.
 
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stuway

All-American
Mar 29, 2007
4,543
5,913
0
Love the kids heart and effort!! He unfortunately doesn't have the accuracy or pocket presence to take our offense to the next level.

We have 3 of the beat RBs in the country.. If we can develop a passing game to go with our running attack, we could have one of the best offenses in college football next year. And no that's not hyperbole, I believe it to be true.

He just isn't accurate on too any throws, pocket presence is sub-par and ball security is an issue. I love the kids heart and effort that he okays with game in and game out. I just think we need to hoep that Hoak or one of the guys on the roster can become the qb we need to win 8 or 9 games next year.

And as much as that leap is contingent on finding that qb, we obviously have to fix the D as we'll, but that's for another thread.

The pieces are in place om offense, pending that kind of qb, fewer drops from the WRs and the line improving it's pass blocking.
 
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Burly

All-American
Sep 3, 2002
16,925
8,394
113
He has his shortcomings..but he plays behind a poor pass blocking oline..and receivers have been inconsistent

This loss is on Error Gran play calling...and the whole defensive staff....what a ill prepared team.
 
K_TIME

K_TIME

Heisman
Jan 2, 2003
18,146
25,082
113
We need to spend more time on the shortcomings of Love, Miggins, Bell, Pringle, Elam, Ware, Allen, etc..outside of Jordan Jones and I can see potential in Middleton...none of our front 7 can plan passable defense vs. a good rushing attack.

Our QB isn't great but he actually playing his spot better than half of our team is right now.
 
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uk_king_cat2

Junior
Sep 5, 2006
2,038
265
0
K_TIME said:
We need to spend more time on the shortcomings of Love, Miggins, Bell, Pringle, Elam, Ware, Allen, etc..outside of Jordan Jones and I can see potential in Middleton...none of our front 7 can plan passable defense vs. a good rushing attack.

Our QB isn't great but he actually playing his spot better than half of our team is right now.
Click to expand...
Now now....Stoops has taken over the defense.
 
R

reflaine

All-Conference
Jul 26, 2007
2,511
2,189
53
And to be fair he takes a shot 90 percent of the pass plays we run. We are a great power line but struggle with pass protection.
 
B

Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
39,947
60,391
113
Win next week. Get a bowl bid. Practice. Close season. Get serious in weight room. Work on passing. Spring ball. Assess.
 
S

Soupbean

All-American
Jan 19, 2007
5,945
8,109
0
Dallas-Wild said:
SJ is playing his butt off, you can see he wants to win.

He's just limited, wish we had some D guys with his heart.
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Yes this is my point. Not laying the loss on him at all. If we catch the post last week he pulls us through that one too. He is NOT the reason we are losing but his shortcomings are holding him and us back in the red zone.

Just really limits what we can do that's all i'm saying. And it can be fixed, he just has to learn a new way to release the ball.
 
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MudererofCrows

All-Conference
Dec 4, 2005
14,149
3,597
0
Johnson is limited but he's done well enough to win ball games. The ire should be saved for the defensive coaching staff for horrible development, horrible scheme and horrible game management.
 
K

Knightlife10

Redshirt
Nov 12, 2015
23
12
0
3 fan said:
He is a terrible passer. It's that simple. There is a reason he had. O offers from Power 5 schools but UK
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Not sure what game you were watching, Johnson did enough and then some as a dual for us to have a chance today. Its not his fault Olinemen would rather be Jujuing on that beat on the sidelines while losing than blocking a DE bearing down on him in critical situations. Also not his fault an Olinemen gets blown up on the goalline and trips his rb or a perfect lookoff of the safety to come back to Juice to drop a perfectly thrown pass or......as posted above, maybe you should focus more on the Dline personnel that seems to get a pass for not getting off blocks or generating some semblance of a pass rush.
 
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C

Catlogic15

All-Conference
May 19, 2003
3,388
3,840
0
He's a split second behind in making a read. He telegraphs every screen or "toss" play. He can't put enough velocity on slants and curls. Over the middle he appears too short to "fire a strike". Combine all those. It adds up, making it tough take pressure off the run game, and beat SEC defenses.
 
K

Knightlife10

Redshirt
Nov 12, 2015
23
12
0
catlogic15 said:
He's a split second behind in making a read. He telegraphs every screen or "toss" play. He can't put enough velocity on slants and curls. Over the middle he appears too short to "fire a strike". Combine all those. It adds up, making it tough take pressure off the run game, and beat SEC defenses.
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Again, if receivers dont drop 5 passes
 
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J

jnewc2_rivals30628

All-Conference
Nov 22, 2006
6,564
3,919
0
Soupbean said:
I don't want this to turn into a bash of the kid because he has played his heart out and lead us to a resurgence no doubt, BUT his limitations in the passing game are making it hard to get over the hump against better teams.

I know its not easy to fix technical flaws mid season but I hope Hinshaw can work on his delivery to get him to release the ball higher so that he can get on top of the ball and get some touch on the short passes. The way he releases the ball from below his shoulder it's virtually impossible for him to throw anything over the line. His trajectory just wont allow it time to come back down in a short field. That's why he airmails those passes and has such a hard time connecting on the Conrad slip through play.

He can throw the deep ball because it's easy to put arch on it and he can throw on the edges when he has clear passing lanes, but when things are tight and he has to throw over a line it just doesn't work. Not physically possible from where he releases it.

That's why we are struggling to score inside the 10, we just are so limited in what we can execute.

I hope he can work it out because I love his grit and think he has stepped into a tough situation and done better than anyone thought he could.
Click to expand...

Johnson is hot garbage, but even a blind man could see that defense is the problem, not offense..I'm kind of amazed this is being discussed..I don't see a single thread discussing the abysmal defense that has cost us the last two games..Johnson, Gran and the offense showed up today, Stoops and Eliot didn't..simple as that..the moment was once again too big for Stoops..there's a trend that's developed in games where we have anything of marginal significance on the line..Stoops coaches tight and conservatively on defense and makes bad game management decisions (not to mention how he starts meddling with his offensive coordinator's play calling decisions because he's an emotional roller coaster)
 
K

Knightlife10

Redshirt
Nov 12, 2015
23
12
0
He has made every throw you just mentioned, it isnt all about velocity and how pretty it looks or if he is a half second late, mostly every qb I have seen so far waits until a receiver is open or comes out of a break, little to no anticipation. If the ball gets there, you catch it. The kid has gotten better every game and it should be an interesting off season for the QB spot.
 
D

dallasg23

All-Conference
Aug 15, 2013
3,361
4,330
113
Yeah the D wasn't very good but for a team to rush for nearly 600 yards in game and still lose is unheard of. Teams were 30-0 this year when having rushed for 400+ yards. The lack of a passing game has lost us the last two games period. Have to keep teams honest and we currently cannot.
 
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C

catscratchfever3215

Sophomore
Sep 10, 2015
368
193
0
This loss can't be blamed on one single person, coach or position group. Not being able to get a TD in the red zone has killed us the past 2 weeks. Johnson's lack of throwing ability hurts us in the red zone. At the same time WR drops have killed us at crucial points in the game. We are for the most part one dimensional with suspect to predictable play calling at times. Turnovers instead of sure points is a momentum killer. Ignorant penalties.

Injuries killed us today. Losing Jones showed exactly how good and important he is. He was the one player I could see hitting Dobbs hard and getting in his head. Losing our best deep threat that also has the most chemistry with our QB didn't help.
 
9

99firerock

All-Conference
Sep 4, 2015
1,068
1,434
0
Soupbean said:
I don't want this to turn into a bash of the kid because he has played his heart out and lead us to a resurgence no doubt, BUT his limitations in the passing game are making it hard to get over the hump against better teams.

I know its not easy to fix technical flaws mid season but I hope Hinshaw can work on his delivery to get him to release the ball higher so that he can get on top of the ball and get some touch on the short passes. The way he releases the ball from below his shoulder it's virtually impossible for him to throw anything over the line. His trajectory just wont allow it time to come back down in a short field. That's why he airmails those passes and has such a hard time connecting on the Conrad slip through play.

He can throw the deep ball because it's easy to put arch on it and he can throw on the edges when he has clear passing lanes, but when things are tight and he has to throw over a line it just doesn't work. Not physically possible from where he releases it.

That's why we are struggling to score inside the 10, we just are so limited in what we can execute.

I hope he can work it out because I love his grit and think he has stepped into a tough situation and done better than anyone thought he could.
Click to expand...
Couldn't agree more...prepare to be bashed and excuses made. Love the kid, love his heart, but reality is reality. We aren't there as a team either, but QB generally is the engine that drives the train.
 
J

Jon(-24)

Senior
Nov 25, 2007
1,635
576
0
Again, he got to UK by:

1) losing a QB battle and transferring out of an FCS school
2) still being available after every other QB in the country had signed somewhere.

Hes tough as hell and maximizes his abilities, really plays all out and doesn't mind to take a hit in process of delivering a pass, he's not gunshy or afraid of the stage. Those are great qualities to have in life going forward... But he's still just the QB who isn't good enough to start for Gambling State. Not good enough to best Arkansas Pine Bluff.
 
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Black Diamond Cat

All-Conference
Apr 9, 2016
4,672
2,526
0
K_TIME said:
We need to spend more time on the shortcomings of Love, Miggins, Bell, Pringle, Elam, Ware, Allen, etc..outside of Jordan Jones and I can see potential in Middleton...none of our front 7 can plan passable defense vs. a good rushing attack.

Our QB isn't great but he actually playing his spot better than half of our team is right now.
Click to expand...
THIS ..... Our Defense has under performed all season. Yes, they did improve for 3 or 4 weeks, but have regressed badly the last 2 weeks !
 
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S

shutzhund

All-Conference
Nov 19, 2005
29,202
2,619
0
jnewc2 said:
Johnson is hot garbage, but even a blind man could see that defense is the problem, not offense..I'm kind of amazed this is being discussed..I don't see a single thread discussing the abysmal defense that has cost us the last two games..Johnson, Gran and the offense showed up today, Stoops and Eliot didn't..simple as that..the moment was once again too big for Stoops..there's a trend that's developed in games where we have anything of marginal significance on the line..Stoops coaches tight and conservatively on defense and makes bad game management decisions (not to mention how he starts meddling with his offensive coordinator's play calling decisions because he's an emotional roller coaster)
Click to expand...


You have a retentive memory. Where did you read those things? Multiple single item posts or one post that mentioned all those egregious errors at one time?:rolleyes:
 
S

Soupbean

All-American
Jan 19, 2007
5,945
8,109
0
Once again I knew I shouldn't have started this one because it's impossible to discuss a specific issue without it turning into "He's trash . . . "

The kid has without question done a more than admirable job with what he was thrown into. There is no question he's outperformed what was expected at the time he came in.

The purpose of the pose was again supposed to be focused no a very specific analysis of his delivery and how I think it limits us more than people realize in what we can do in the short field. People are frustrated at our inability to score TDs down there and I think this is a cause.

But it's not because he's trash and can't play. It's flaw that can be fixed, and if so would open up a ton of possibilities for him and the team. In some ways it's a positive looking at his potential with some adjustments to his game.

We don't have any players without flaws of their own and I'm sure they are all working on them. Just harder for a QB to do it on the fly in the heat of battle. Would take an off season so that's why I'm not blaming him, just opining that I think that's holding him back and limiting our effectiveness close in at least for now.

Not sure that helped the discussion but I tried.
 
C

carolinacat

All-Conference
Nov 7, 2007
4,873
4,677
113
K_TIME said:
We need to spend more time on the shortcomings of Love, Miggins, Bell, Pringle, Elam, Ware, Allen, etc..outside of Jordan Jones and I can see potential in Middleton...none of our front 7 can plan passable defense vs. a good rushing attack.

Our QB isn't great but he actually playing his spot better than half of our team is right now.
Click to expand...
Yeah, he has some technical issues as the OP pointed out, but our real problems our on the defensive line. Also, our receivers have dropped a few game winning catches over the last 3 years, so they don't get a pass either.
I think our defensive schemes are OK...we're just physically overmatched up front against the better teams. We can slow down the bottom feeders but not the big boys.
 
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megablue

Heisman
Oct 2, 2012
13,498
13,094
113
Johnson has limitations and will continue to improve, but he's done an excellent job of leading the team and helping to motivate the offense through his leadership.

Did you know the 36 points scored were the most points ever scored in Knoxville by Kentucky, since the first game of the series in 1893, when KY won 56-0 ??
This one is on the Defense.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_for_the_Beer_Barrel
 
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Soupbean

All-American
Jan 19, 2007
5,945
8,109
0
SanAntonioCat said:
Stephen tends to hold the ball low and wind up to throw the ball high. While some passes clearly should have been caught, others were difficult to catch.
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All QB's have some flaws in their form. Stephens just happens to be one that makes it hard to make a large set of throws in the playbook because it's difficult to make throws over traffic. Still like what he had done for us.
 
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