Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky Football: Mark Stoops Is Confident In Stephen Johnson

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Though the past few weeks have been tough, Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops is confident in starting quarterback Stephen Johnson.

The Kentucky football program is learning firsthand about what it means to make due with what’s available. For better or worse, what’s available to Kentucky’s offense is the backup quarterback: Stephen Johnson.

Though many have soured on Johnson, Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops remains confident in his field general.

Johnson took over for Kentucky after Drew Barker left the New Mexico State Aggies game with an injury. He’s missed the past three games, was hardly active against New Mexico State, and won’t be ready for the encounter with the Mississippi State Bulldogs on October 22.

According to Jon Hale of The Courier-Journal, Stoops believes Johnson has benefited from Kentucky’s week off.

“We had a good week, and he looked good,” Stoops said. “[Stephen Johnson] looked sharp. Mentally had a weekend to decompress for a moment and take a step back and recharge a little bit.”

He certainly needed a week to rest and recuperate.

Johnson completed 17 of 22 passes for 310 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions against New Mexico State. He also ran the ball 10 times for 51 yards, thus opening the playbook as Kentucky prevailed with a 62-42 victory.

Johnson was just 11-of-19 for 135 yards and an interception the following week against the South Carolina Gamecocks, but he helped Kentucky win 17-10.

Johnson couldn’t get it going against the Alabama Crimson Tide, completing 13 of 22 passes for just 89 yards in a 34-6 loss. He then went 10-of-24 for 49 passing yards and an interception against the Vanderbilt Commodores, although Kentucky did win 20-13.

Though Johnson is clearly struggling as a passer, Coach Stoops defended him by pointing to the only numbers that matter: his 3-1 record.

“I’m very comfortable with him,” Stoops said. “He’s gonna get better and better as we go along. Look at the things he’s done to help us win. What, he’s 3-1 as a starter, right? He’s made some very critical plays. Maybe it doesn’t always look pretty as far as throwing the ball sometimes, but he’s doing the things, decision making and doing some things with his legs to help us win football games. That’s what it’s all about.”

It’d be nice to generate more offense, but if Johnson does enough to help Kentucky win, not much else matters.

It’s worth noting that Johnson’s presence is incredibly valuable to the success of the Wildcats’ offense. He ran for 55 yards and a touchdown against Vanderbilt—a seven-point win—and picked up 51 rushing yards against New Mexico State.

Merely having a dual-threat quarterback on the field has created opportunities for the run game to excel.

The question is: can Johnson get things together with his arm and lead Kentucky to its first bowl game since 2010?