{"id":14558,"date":"2018-04-17T16:37:57","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T20:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=14558"},"modified":"2018-04-17T16:37:57","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T20:37:57","slug":"three-takeaways-from-kentuckys-spring-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2018\/04\/17\/three-takeaways-from-kentuckys-spring-game\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Takeaways From Kentucky\u2019s Spring Game"},"content":{"rendered":"<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">Three Takeaways From Kentucky&#8217;s Spring Game<\/h4>\n<p>Kentucky played their sixth spring game under <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/mark-stoops-2.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mark Stoops<\/a> with the Blue squad or the offense beating the White squad or the defense 45-32. The game was contested under a slightly confusing scoring system where the defense could score points other than a touchdown. While it sometimes is difficult to judge things solely on this contest here are Three Takeaways From Kentucky&#8217;s Spring Game.<\/p>\n<h4>The Quarterback Situation Won&#8217;t Be Resolved Anytime Soon<\/h4>\n<p>Before the game Stoops said he won&#8217;t decide on a starting quarterback until summer. All of the players vying for the job showed some good things during the spring game.<\/p>\n<p>Sophomore <strong>Gunnar Hoak<\/strong> completed 14-25 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown. Hoak looked confident in the pocket leading the offense. The familiarity with offensive coordinator <strong>Eddie Gran&#8217;s<\/strong> system definitely showed.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile Cat fans got their first look at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=terry-wilson-1,terry-wilson-2&amp;search=Terry+Wilson&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Terry Wilson<\/a>, the junior college player from Kansas. Wilson went 10-24 passing for 131 yards with an interception. However the pick wasn&#8217;t really his fault when the pass tipped off his receivers&#8217;\u0080\u0099 fingers and into <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/mike-edwards-8.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Edwards<\/a>&#8216; hands. In addition Wilson showed off his running ability on a couple of designed plays. Under normal game conditions this would have gone for a touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/Scott_Charlton\/status\/984934645321093120<\/p>\n<p>The other two players competing for the spot did some good things as well. <strong>Danny Clark<\/strong> went 5-8 passing for 46 yards and <strong>Walker Wood<\/strong> threw for a late touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>Following the game Stoops reiterated he is in no hurry to name a starter. Furthermore he took it a step farther hinting at a possible platoon.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stoops: \u201cI need to see both of them in a game.\u201d The seed has been planted. We might have two QBs playing when the season starts.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Nick Roush (@RoushKSR) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RoushKSR\/status\/984955614181896192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 14, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>A.J. Rose Was The Game MVP<\/h4>\n<p>After leaving the the 2017 game due to injury Rose made the most of his opportunity in 2018. With <strong>Benny Snell<\/strong> seeing limited time and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/sihiem-king-1.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sihiem King<\/a> not playing because of concussion protocol Rose rushed for 134 yards and three touchdowns. He also caught a couple of passes. Rose took some major strides in the battle to be the second back.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">AJ Rose is the future of Kentucky\u2019s backfield after Benny leaves. Proved that tonight at the Spring Game.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Kentucky Vault\u2122\ufe0f (@KentuckyVault) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KentuckyVault\/status\/984986713343881219?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">April 14, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4>Stars In The Making On Defense<\/h4>\n<p>As we continue with Three Takeaways From Kentucky&#8217;s Spring Game it&#8217;s time to focus on the other side of the ball. Two linebackers stood out for <strong>Matt House&#8217;s<\/strong> defense.<\/p>\n<p>Paintsville native <strong>Kash Daniel<\/strong> had eight tackles, forced a fumble and had a pass deflection. In doing so Daniel served notice he wants to be the heir apparent to the graduated <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/courtney-love-1.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Courtney Love<\/a> at middle linebacker.<\/p>\n<p>Another player who impressed on defense is true freshman DeAndre Square. Stepping in for the injured <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=jordan-jones-1,jordan-jones-2&amp;search=Jordan+Jones&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Jones<\/a>, Square was credited with five tackles. Not bad for someone who should be getting ready for his senior prom right now.<\/p>\n<p>Square came to Kentucky as an early enrollee in January. The Detroit native has been turning heads all spring and showed why during the game.<\/p>\n<p>Before an announced crowd of 36,090 at <strong>Kroger Field<\/strong> this was the best a Kentucky football team has looked under Stoops in a spring game. Whether that translates into a breakthrough season in 2018 remains to be seen. The Wildcats have 18 starters returning including ten on defense.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for checking out Three Takeaways From Kentucky&#8217;s Spring Game here at <strong>Last Word<\/strong> <strong>On College Football<\/strong>. Stay tuned for more about the Wildcats throughout the summer leading up to the opener against <strong>Central Michigan<\/strong> on September 1st.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Three Takeaways From Kentucky&#8217;s Spring Game Kentucky played their sixth spring game under Mark Stoops with the Blue squad or the offense beating the White squad or the defense 45-32. The game was contested under a slightly confusing scoring system where the defense could score points other than a touchdown. While it sometimes is difficult [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":877,"featured_media":13625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[3182,184,3035,1705,3183,3181,285,126,3184,2737],"class_list":["post-14558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-sec","tag-a-j-rose","tag-cfb","tag-deandre-square","tag-gunnar-hoak","tag-kash-daniel","tag-kentucky-wildcats-spring-game","tag-mark-stoops","tag-ncaa","tag-terry","tag-terry-wilson"],"modified_by":"Tony Siracusa, CFB Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/877"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14558"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14558\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}