Kentucky Football: Tuesday Practice Pressers Recap

On Tuesday, Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson both met with the media after practice

Coach Stoops’ remarks were impromptu and mostly dealt with the situation involving star running back Boom Williams.

Shannon Dawson’s time with the press was much more light-hearted and centered around the excellent performance of his offense in the win against Missouri.

Mark Stoops

Rumors swirled all day Tuesday that Boom Williams had left the team. Coach Stoops quickly clarified that information was false.

"It has nothing to do with him quitting the team", he said.

Stoops said that Williams is "going through some personal things" and that the matter will stay private.

According to Stoops, Williams has not practiced this week and his availability for Saturday’s game is uncertain.

Shannon Dawson

The Kentucky offense rebounded from a dismal performance against Florida with a solid effort against Missouri.

Coach Dawson credited simple execution as the key for the unit’s turnaround.

"We were better on 3rd down, we scored touchdowns and we actually made some plays. It’s about as simple as that", he said.

The play of starting quarterback Patrick Towles was noticeably better last Saturday. In several post-game interviews, Towles stated that Dawson helped him tweak his throwing motion.

"It was a simple deal and nothing really, really over the top", said Dawson.

Dawson said that he and Patrick worked on the adjustment after Dawson noticed a flaw in Towles’ throwing motion during warmups one day in practice.

As a result, Dawson said that Towles’ throws were higher and more accurate against Missouri, and most importantly it improved Towles’ comfort level on the field.

"His comfort level on Saturday was the highest that it has been", said Dawson. "We fine-tuned some things that he likes doing, focused on those things and put him in a good place mentally."

Coach Dawson also said that it’s important to remember that Towles’ has only had four games to work with Dawson and sometimes it takes awhile for player and coach to gel, but Dawson did say that he and Patrick are finally getting on the same page.

"Saturday was a combination of his side and my side coming together a little bit", he said.

During his Monday news conference Coach Stoops mentioned that UK’s offense line was "dinged up" during the Missouri game,  Coach Dawson said that the injuries on the line did not affect UK’s in game strategy in the least.

"We people started falling I just blocked it out in my mind because the one thing we had to do was attack and we couldn’t change course", said Dawson

When the line is in a state of flux like it was last Saturday, Dawson said that center Jon Toth provides a much-needed dose of consistency.

"He’s as important as anybody out there I promise you. The communication and the things he does is awesome", said Dawson.

Dawson said that the performance of UK’s patchwork line consisting of four redshirt sophomores on Saturday shows that the Cats are a "young and talented team".