Dawson very high on Garrett Johnson, quotes here.

[Rhavicc]

Quotes credited to the Courier-Journal. Shannon Dawson spoke after practice today, had this to say about Garrett "Juice" Johnson:

News of the Day: First, it's important to understand that first-year Kentucky offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson coached Kevin White at West Virginia. That would be the former All-American who caught 109 passes for 1,447 yards and became a top-10 NFL Draft pick last season.

And now this from Dawson on Tuesday: "I think Juice is as good as I've had."

That would be sophomore Wildcats wide receiver Garrett "Juice" Johnson, who led the team with five catches for 85 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown, in Saturday's season-opening victory. If not for off-target throws, he might've had much more.

"The kid does great getting a release," Dawson said. "He's got great ball skills."

Yeah, but to already be comparing him, indirectly, to the likes of White? That's heady company, and Johnson is well aware.

"I know he's not just going to say anything," the budding star said of Dawson. "So whenever he's saying something, I truly believe and I feel it. And then by him saying something like that, it pushes on me, not wanting to let him down. It makes me want to work harder."

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Here are some other quotes from Dawson today:

Kentucky's coordinator also singled out 6-foot-3, 208 pound receiver Dorian Baker, who had three catches for 50 yards and leveled several punishing blocks in the opener.

"His presence," Dawson said, "people are just grabbing him (because) it's hard to guard that guy."

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Freshman Lessons: True freshman George Asafo-Adjei didn't get to ease into college football. He started at right tackle for the Cats last week, and while the 6-foot-5, 325-pounder held his own at times with sheer strength, he also surrendered at least one sack.

"I just think he learned how to play under those circumstances," Dawson said. "It wasn't like we were sitting there calling the most complicated plays, but I will say that executing those plays at practice versus executing them in the game with 60,000-some people there is a little bit different.

"He probably made a few mistakes that he would never make at practice, but what do you expect? There's not a lot of true freshmen going out there Game 1 that play flawless. There's not a lot of seniors that go play flawless."

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Near Miss: After piling up more than 300 yards of offense in the first half, UK's offense stalled in the second against Louisiana-Lafayette, thanks largely to several near misses on big-play attempts. So Dawson is left to wonder what might've been in his Cats debut.

"We had a ton of explosive plays, and we could've had probably double that many, more than I've probably ever had," he said. "Really, it might've been the best offensive game I could've probably had if we execute a little bit, you know?

"Obviously it would've helped the overall morale out if we just make a few of those plays, put it out of reach, and then we're probably not talking about it. But it didn't happen. Ifs and buts, right?"

If you want to give them a view, I'll leave the link HERE

 

[UKErik]

I'm excited about all of UK's young receivers. The compliment Dawson paid to Johnson is impressive. Just goes to show how good that young man can be.

Interesting comments about "what could have been" from Dawson (reference week one). He's exactly right, of course. UK left a number of big plays on the field. I'm anxious to see how he calls the South Carolina game. SC will play a more "conventional" defense than Louisiana did. We should see some screen passes and quick passes to the WR's. Really looking forward to it.

I like the way Dawson answered questions this week. He's asked about Towles missing passes, and he's like "who doesn't miss passes." He says "what do you expect" about the true frosh making a few errors. Dawson seems to talk to the media the same he would to a fan in a bar somewhere. Love it!!!

GBB!!!

 

[Rhavicc]

I'm excited about all of UK's young receivers. The compliment Dawson paid to Johnson is impressive. Just goes to show how good that young man can be.

Interesting comments about "what could have been" from Dawson (reference week one). He's exactly right, of course. UK left a number of big plays on the field. I'm anxious to see how he calls the South Carolina game. SC will play a more "conventional" defense than Louisiana did. We should see some screen passes and quick passes to the WR's. Really looking forward to it.

I like the way Dawson answered questions this week. He's asked about Towles missing passes, and he's like "who doesn't miss passes." He says "what do you expect" about the true frosh making a few errors. Dawson seems to talk to the media the same he would to a fan in a bar somewhere. Love it!!!

GBB!!!

Has an awesome coaching personality. I remember watching an interview that he did following one of his games, whenever he was hired here. The reporter asked him "You all ran the ball a lot in this game, was that your plan coming in?", and he responded by saying something to the effect of "No, they let us have it so we took it. If they give up the run, we'll run the ball 50 damn times. Didn't do that against Alabama because they don't give up the run. It varies game to game"

That's really all I needed to hear when he was hired, and I felt good about the offense. It seemed at times that Neal Brown was stubborn with his playcalling. I like the process Dawson follows, and apparently the players like it too. He really connect well with his players. Can't stress how big that is.

I lit up a bit whenever I seen this quote. Kevin White was miraculous, and if Dawson feels like he could be as good, or better, as a sophomore? Well that's terrific news. Very exciting stuff.
He's definitely right on his "what could have been" comments. Started off setting the world on fire, but Towles just went cold. Dawson is a phenomenal QB coach, so he'll fix it up.