.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
The Kentucky football team appears to have a quarterback dilemma. Mark Stoops hasn’t decided if Drew Barker or Stephen Johnson will be the starter.
During Week 1, Drew Barker looked the part of the future of the Kentucky football program. During Week 3, the same could be said for the player who replaced Barker once he left the game with an injury: Stephen Johnson.
With a Week 4 clash with the South Carolina Gamecocks looming, head coach Mark Stoops has a decision to make.
Barker left the Week 3 clash with the Florida Gators with a back injury. There’s no telling how healthy he’ll be when the South Carolina game rolls around, but even if healthy, Johnson has a powerful claim to the starting job.
According to Jen Smith of Kentucky.com, coach Stoops has yet to make a decision on which player will start at quarterback moving forward.
“It can be, but we will see how it goes. I’ll see how healthy (Barker) is. It’s hard to talk about hypotheticals right now. I have no idea how healthy Drew’s gonna be and what he’s gonna look like this week. I was just asked if I anticipate Stephen [Johnson] playing and the answer is yes, I do. To what extent, I don’t know.”
That’s an old school approach, but not necessarily a bad one.
Traditional thinking is that a player shouldn’t lose their job to an injury. That isn’t guaranteed to be Stoops’ line of thinking, but it’s certainly in line with his course of action.
Both players have made quality statements in their brief opportunities to play.
Week 1 Passing Yards #SEC
1. Drew Barker 323
2. Chad Kelly 313
3. Drew Lock 280
4. Luke Del Rio 256
5. Trevor Knight 239
6. Joshua Dobbs 192— SEC Country (@SECcountry) September 7, 2016
Barker compiled 323 passing yards, four touchdowns, and an interception during the 44-35 loss to the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. He threw all four touchdowns during the first half, however, and failed to find the end zone a single time in the second half.
Barker also went 2-of-10 for 10 yards with three interceptions against Florida and 1-of-2 for one yard and an interception against New Mexico State.
With Barker injured, it was Johnson who led Kentucky to its first win of the season.
A final look at the stats. Plenty of points in this one. pic.twitter.com/d2s18EQp3Z
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) September 17, 2016
Johnson completed 17 of his 22 pass attempts for 310 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. He ran the ball 10 times for 51 yards, as well, which thus opened the field for both the run game and the passing attack to flourish.
More importantly, Johnson helped Kentucky avoid disaster and pull out a 62-42 victory.
Perhaps the South Carolina will provide more long-term clarity.
More from Wildcat Blue Nation
This article originally appeared on 
