Patrick Towles Gives Kentucky Continuity, Experience at QB Position

The Kentucky Wildcats opened up their quarterback position to an open competition this offseason to try and find a spark that could take their offense to the next level in 2015. After a spirited battle between incumbent Patrick Towles and highly touted redshirt freshman Drew Barker through the spring and into the start of fall camp, the Wildcats have settled on the veteran Towles, bringing valuable experience and much-needed continuity to the offense this fall.

Towles started all 12 games last season for the Wildcats, throwing for 2,718 yards with 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions while completing 57.4 percent of his passes. He also added 305 yards rushing and six more touchdowns on the ground, ranking No. 1o in the SEC with his 20 total touchdowns. At times, he flashed elite playmaking ability like when he accounted for 466 yards of total offense and four total touchdowns against the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The issue for Towles, however, was consistently playing at that high level. During Kentucky’s six-game losing streak to end the season, Towles threw for more than 200 yards in just one game and threw just four touchdowns against five interceptions. In the regular season finale against the Louisville Cardinals, Towles put together his worst game of the season, completing a season-worst 48.3 percent with two interceptions in a 44-40 loss. After that performance, head coach Mark Stoops said Towles would need to make improvements this offseason if he wanted to keep his starting job.

That prompted the competition this offseason between Towles and Barker for new offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson. At the end of the day, Dawson went with Towles for his arm talent, his experience, and the work he put in this summer to improve his accuracy on quick throws that he often struggled to put on the mark in 2014.

With the team now officially turned over to Patrick Towles again for 2015, can Kentucky take the next step as a program this fall?

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