Kentucky Offensive Changes Come From Unexpected Source

The buck stops with Mark Stoops. This is his football team. When something isn’t working, he bears the responsibility for it. True as that may be, he is the manager of a small army that keeps the Kentucky football wheels turning. It’s not always the million-dollar men who are responsible for significant changes within the program.

The biggest change this season has been the life injected into the offense. Obviously, the play of Cutter Boley gets most of the credit. That’s how the quarterback position works. He’s elevated the play of those around him, and he’s gotten a lot of help from his coaches.

Former Kentucky quarterback Mike Hartline has been a useful resource as a quality control analyst. When Boley steps onto the sideline, Hartline is there to guide him through what’s happening on the field.

Bush Hamdan calls plays from the booth. The man sitting next to him is Kevin Barbay, an analyst who spent the last three seasons calling plays at Appalachian State, Mississippi State, and Houston. When things looked dire after the South Carolina game, a few words from Barbay served as inspiration for Hamdan.

“I remember him sitting there after the game and us talking about what we have to do, particularly after that game and what direction we have to go, and he said something to me, which I’ll keep between us, which has been a little bit philosophically the direction we’ve gone,” Hamdan recalled on Tuesday.

“It’s not about what we’ve done in the past. People say what’s right is what’s working, and so we’ve tried to stay focused on that and continue to build on it.”

Tweaks to the Kentucky Offense

After that road loss, Kentucky put an emphasis on getting the ball out of Boley’s hands as quickly as possible. It’s looked a bit like the Air Raid at times, using simple concepts to create open targets on short passes.

“He’s played to our strengths and made it super comfortable on the offense, simplifying some things and making some others a little more in-depth,” Boley said. “We dove into some areas where we really needed to grow in and we’ve taken big steps in those areas and made big improvements.”

It’s created a much more efficient passing operation. Over Boley’s last three starts at Kroger Field, the redshirt freshman has completed 75-97 (77.3%) passes for 756 yards (252 per game) and seven touchdowns.

Most importantly, Kentucky has been exceptional on third down. Over the last two games, Kentucky is 7-13 on third downs of 7+ yards. Boley is completing 68% of his passes on third down, one of the highest marks in the SEC.

Thanks to some words of wisdom from a play-calling vet in the Kentucky locker room, the offense made the changes it needed to be successful. With three games left in the season, Hamdan is slightly altering his message to get the most out of his players.

“The reality of it is, we know what’s at stake and what we have to get done, from a legacy standpoint. From a standpoint of guys getting an opportunity at the next level, in the NFL, and for an opportunity for next year, and guys figuring that out,” said Hamdan.

“My approach has probably changed in that way. Every week in this day and age of college football, it’s really important. I think it’s been that approach with the players. This is not five, seven, ten years ago; every one of your plays is being evaluated by somebody, and your tape is your resume.”