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We’ll have the final verdict on Kentucky’s quarterback battle in a little over a week.
Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops said he hopes to name a starting quarterback the Monday of game week, which would be Aug. 27.
Football: @UKCoachStoops said both Gunnar Hoak & Terry Wilson looked good in today’s scrimmage. Stoops said they’ll zero in on a starter closer to Monday of Week 1.
— John Morgan Francis (@MonJorgan) August 18, 2018
The two candidates are Terry Wilson and Gunnar Hoak. Wilson was ranked a top-40 junior college player by the 247 Sports Composite when he committed to Kentucky, and was far-and-away the favorite to be the QB1 at the time. Many expected him to be an upgrade over Johnson with a similar dual-threat skillset.
That has since changed, as Hoak has made the quarterback battle interesting. The redshirt sophomore has bided his time behind Stephen Johnson and Drew Barker the last couple years. Stoops has been silent on who’s been better thus far, and it’s unlikely that he’ll give much of a hint before Monday.
However, there’s also this tidbit from KSR football reporter Nick Roush:
Word on the street is that in UK’s second preseason scrimmage Terry Wilson had his best performance to date
— Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) August 18, 2018
Hoak entered fall camp as the slight favorite to win the job since he’s been in the system for multiple years, but Wilson has a lot of upside and the ability to make an impact on the ground and through the air. That dual-threat aspect could ultimately give him the edge over Hoak in this battle.
Saying all of this, we should fully expect to see both quarterbacks get some run against Central Michigan in Week 1.
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