Evaluate Towles performance last night

[screwduke]

He played pretty well. I don't see how anyone can say otherwise. You're doing something right if you complete 72% of your passes.

 

[footballfanatic77]

C+, maybe a B-.

 

[secrules2]

Played surprisingly well even though the coaches didn't really give him a chance until S.C. almost took the lead before letting him throw again other than third down. B+.

 

[ukfit]

overall b. what could he work on? He is still missing the deep ball by overthrowing his receiver.

 

[Poetax]

C. Towles threw a costly, costly pick in our first series. Missed another TD throw with his WR wide open. He made some throws, and made a great run. But in the 2nd half, SC stacked the box and dared us to throw. We couldnt. Even worse, the staff knew we couldnt. Thats why Towles had so few opportunities.

I love Towles. He bleeds blue and is much a fan is he is a player. But his consistency MUST improve. With it, coaches confidence in him will improve. Otherwise, if a staff really lacks the kind of confidence in Towles they showed last game; they need to sit him.

Baker's drop killed us, pressure put on Towles was the result of that mistake. We didn't throw because Dawson wanted to run the ball in the second half. Online penalties took several pass completions away. Thank goodness the coaches make the decisions and not the fans.

 

[ram1955]

Towles is a loosey-goosey Lorezen/Jay Cutler (poor man's) gun slinger, as opposed to a programable/quick/run and gun and get the ball out quick Dusty Bonner prototype. But i guess I'm getting use to taking the good with the bad in regard to Towles loosey gooseyness cause it's mostly good. But there will always be some stuff that will drive us crazy.

???? Sounds like you're saying Dusty Bonner was a better qb.. Dusty was a good , serviceable qb but obviously did not have the arm to lead the team to any higher level than he did (6-5). He did what he did well but was limited. Mumme saw that. Didn't he name J L the starter even before spring practice? Towles clearly has a higher upside.

 

[cawood12]

The reason they won the game is the SC QB threw a horrible pick on what would of likely been the winning drive. You go conservative in the 4th q not the entire 2nd half. Trust me, the strategy wasn't to get their first 1st down of the second half in the 4th Q. That's being way too conservative. No, you don't play like you did with Lafayette in the 2nd half chucking it all over the field but mixing it up, throwing some passes on 1st down early in the 2nd half might have forced SC to be a little more honest.

And you have totally ignored down and distance. Where were we on the field, deep in our territory. Why throw for the sack of it. It's a long game. You take chances that favor you. We were up. And the D was holding. Think it through. When you play golf some shots are to avoid trouble.

 

[rudd1]

-football is a lot more complex than basketball. Chess/checkers. Some UK fans just dont know anything about football...hopefully wins will bring interest and the great unwashed will become educated. Knowledge is power.

 

[brianpoe]

C. Towles threw a costly, costly pick in our first series. Missed another TD throw with his WR wide open. He made some throws, and made a great run. But in the 2nd half, SC stacked the box and dared us to throw. We couldnt. Even worse, the staff knew we couldnt. Thats why Towles had so few opportunities.

I love Towles. He bleeds blue and is much a fan is he is a player. But his consistency MUST improve. With it, coaches confidence in him will improve. Otherwise, if a staff really lacks the kind of confidence in Towles they showed last game; they need to sit him.

72.4%, learn the definition of the word inconsistency and come back to repost with proper verbiage.

 

[kats23]

And you have totally ignored down and distance. Where were we on the field, deep in our territory. Why throw for the sack of it. It's a long game. You take chances that favor you. We were up. And the D was holding. Think it through. When you play golf some shots are to avoid trouble.

So you're just going to be the fan boy here and that's fine. I'm not saying you just throw for the sake of throwing but three or four 3 and outs in a row was not what UK wanted there. First couple of drives you have a point. There were penalties, and lost yardage but after that, UK continued to run into a wall and just didn't change. Defense was gassed at the end of the game and UK got lucky SC threw just an awful pass or we're probably all having a much different conversation today.

I think this is more on growing pains with Dawson then on Towles but 2nd half Towles, when they did pass, had that scared look he had against Lafayette and rushed his throws. No matter how you slice it the tale of two halves UK has had has to be corrected

 

[brianpoe]

So you're just going to be the fan boy here and that's fine. I'm not saying you just throw for the sake of throwing but three or four 3 and outs in a row was not what UK wanted there. First couple of drives you have a point. There were penalties, and lost yardage but after that, UK continued to run into a wall and just didn't change. Defense was gassed at the end of the game and UK got lucky SC threw just an awful pass or we're probably all having a much different conversation today.

I think this is more on growing pains with Dawson then on Towles but 2nd half Towles, when they did pass, had that scared look he had against Lafayette and rushed his throws. No matter how you slice it the tale of two halves UK has had has to be corrected

How many passes did PT miss on in the 2nd half?

I agree with the Dawson/coaches comment.

 

[Poetax]

So you're just going to be the fan boy here and that's fine. I'm not saying you just throw for the sake of throwing but three or four 3 and outs in a row was not what UK wanted there. First couple of drives you have a point. There were penalties, and lost yardage but after that, UK continued to run into a wall and just didn't change. Defense was gassed at the end of the game and UK got lucky SC threw just an awful pass or we're probably all having a much different conversation today.

I think this is more on growing pains with Dawson then on Towles but 2nd half Towles, when they did pass, had that scared look he had against Lafayette and rushed his throws. No matter how you slice it the tale of two halves UK has had has to be corrected

Do you think the AU fans care how lucky they were when JS had a 20 yd punt in the last minute of the game?

 

[UKani]

I wonder if Stoops is telling Dawson to play call a more conservative game when we are up going into the 2nd?

Stoops actually acknowledged that he did just this on the radio show.

 

[UKani]

So you're just going to be the fan boy here and that's fine. I'm not saying you just throw for the sake of throwing but three or four 3 and outs in a row was not what UK wanted there. First couple of drives you have a point. There were penalties, and lost yardage but after that, UK continued to run into a wall and just didn't change. Defense was gassed at the end of the game and UK got lucky SC threw just an awful pass or we're probably all having a much different conversation today.

I think this is more on growing pains with Dawson then on Towles but 2nd half Towles, when they did pass, had that scared look he had against Lafayette and rushed his throws. No matter how you slice it the tale of two halves UK has had has to be corrected

It exactly was more growing pains for Dawson that for Towles. Everyone in the stadium knew that when UK was in 30 personnel that they were going to run an inside zone or an outside zone. They've been doing it the whole game and out of the first two games that personnel was its best running game personnel. So they kept with that personnel and South Carolina knew what was coming. Yeah Stoops said that he influenced the play calling in the 2nd half, but he wants you to run the ball then you've got to find other ways to do it instead of calling the same plays out of the same formations when the defense knows exactly what you are running. So yeah the 2nd half was more on Dawson's growing pains than Towles.

 

[LowCountryCat]

I'll take performances like this every week.

 

[sefus12]

Patrick Towles is quickly becoming the football version of what Andrew Harrison is on the basketball board. Some people simply will not be happy with him no matter what.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Baker's drop killed us, pressure put on Towles was the result of that mistake. We didn't throw because Dawson wanted to run the ball in the second half. Online penalties took several pass completions away. Thank goodness the coaches make the decisions and not the fans.

We didnt throw, because the coaches didnt trust him.

72.4%, learn the definition of the word inconsistency and come back to repost with proper verbiage.

for 192 yards. Lets not act like he broke records out there. Hes not playing to his potential, not even close. Why everyone is willfully ignorant of this fact is a mystery.

 

[Dallas-Wild]

We didnt throw, because the coaches didnt trust him.



for 192 yards. Lets not act like he broke records out there. Hes not playing to his potential, not even close. Why everyone is willfully ignorant of this fact is a mystery.

We didnt throw, because the coaches didnt trust him. What are you basing this on? Just curious...

Was there some statement out by the coaches that I missed?

I too wish he was 29-29 in passing, but I am pretty good with 21-29.

 

[rudd1]

-throw it deep JAYRUD ! ! Baskeebawl on grass....whooooeee I bet callapurry woulda called that thur flee flicker!!!!

-learn football.

 

[jimlowe7]

Towles played a very game on the road. I expect him to flourish against UF and take off from there. I still want to see Barker get some reps though and that has nothing to do with Towles.

I think the only concern MOST fans have with Patrick is that he has badly missed SEVERAL wide open receivers on plays that would likely have been TD's and IN THE PAST we never could have won games where that happened (because our "margin of error" was so small). Now that our team has risen above that fear and PROVED it is no longer the case maybe the fans can also become more confident and not OBSESS over the need to play the PERFECT GAME in order to win!

 

[bigblueinsanity]

We didnt throw, because the coaches didnt trust him. What are you basing this on? Just curious...

Was there some statement out by the coaches that I missed?

I too wish he was 29-29 in passing, but I am pretty good with 21-29.

Based on the playcalling. In the 2nd half, they stacked the LOS to stop the run. We had WRs that were open all game long. But we threw the ball sparingly.

I keep seeing "Oh but he completed 72% of his passess!" Yes he did. But he only had 192 yards. Thats a good game for Max Smith with the talent from 2 years ago. But not a good game from Towles, considering his talent, and the talent of his current surrounding cast.

He threw a terrible pick, missed WR's (at least one for a TD), but made some timely throws and a great run. So I gave him a C; and people are acting like im crazy. The reality is this: for whatever reason, our QB (who has 1st/2nd round talent) is the weak link in our offense. Who ever thought that would be possible? While its frustrating, because Towles can clearly play much better. At least that also means the rest of the unit is performing at a very high level.

 

[mark0202]

Based on the plays he was giving to play with, he did well. In my opinion, PT did very well. Sure, he missed a couple of passes but most of the time, he was on the mark. The very first throw hit the receiver in his chest and the receiver failed to pull it in. The interception was due to his arm getting hit, just as he was letting it go. He missed one go-route that should have been an easy throw. Still, I'm good with 21-29. I would have like to have seen him with more opportunities in the second half, that's not on him.

 

[metrueblue]

I thought he played a pretty decent game. Didn't get the big passing yards, but that is because we were running the ball well and because of the play calling in the 2nd half. Missed on a few throws, but threw some very nice passes when we needed them. The INT was certainly not his fault. The fumble that we almost lost was probably his indecision on whether to hand off or keep. But I thought he managed the game well.

I think he looked better last night than in the first game. I hope he has the game of his life next Saturday.

This is a very balanced offense. I like what I'm seeing so far, and feel we will continue to get even better.

This has nothing to do with his performance...but was I the only one who noticed how Towles likes to take off his helmet, shake his hair like he's a supermodel and look for the nearest camera? I'd like it if he'd buzz that head so he can keep his mind on the game and not worry about how he looks on the sideline. Anyone else notice this?

 

[rudd1]

-so a win isnt good enough because there weren't enough passing yards (running wins games in the SEC) and now we are bitching about hair. Some folks were just born to be unhappy...this is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Poetax]

We didnt throw, because the coaches didnt trust him.



for 192 yards. Lets not act like he broke records out there. Hes not playing to his potential, not even close. Why everyone is willfully ignorant of this fact is a mystery.

Sorry in my opinion you don't have a clue but again it's just my opinion.

 

[Housecat5]

Based on the playcalling. In the 2nd half, they stacked the LOS to stop the run. We had WRs that were open all game long. But we threw the ball sparingly.

I keep seeing "Oh but he completed 72% of his passess!" Yes he did. But he only had 192 yards. Thats a good game for Max Smith with the talent from 2 years ago. But not a good game from Towles, considering his talent, and the talent of his current surrounding cast.

He threw a terrible pick, missed WR's (at least one for a TD), but made some timely throws and a great run. So I gave him a C; and people are acting like im crazy. The reality is this: for whatever reason, our QB (who has 1st/2nd round talent) is the weak link in our offense. Who ever thought that would be possible? While its frustrating, because Towles can clearly play much better. At least that also means the rest of the unit is performing at a very high level.

Actually they did not stack the box in the 2nd half. We were 2nd and very long the whole 3rd quarter and they played 2 deep safeties most of the time. If they would have stacked the box on 2nd and 20 we would have burned them deep.

 

[brianpoe]

We didnt throw, because the coaches didnt trust him.



for 192 yards. Lets not act like he broke records out there. Hes not playing to his potential, not even close. Why everyone is willfully ignorant of this fact is a mystery.

Why are you ignoring the completion percentage? If he throws 10 more times he has 270 yards.. whoop T do

Why are you so hung up on stats? 74% says he was efficient.

 

[sefus12]

This has nothing to do with his performance...but was I the only one who noticed how Towles likes to take off his helmet, shake his hair like he's a supermodel and look for the nearest camera? I'd like it if he'd buzz that head so he can keep his mind on the game and not worry about how he looks on the sideline. Anyone else notice this?

I REALLY hope you are being sarcastic here......

Do you honestly think that Towles shaking his hair back really meant he was looking for a camera to pose for and not thinking about the actual game?

 

[Blueaz]

I thought he was improved from ULL... IMO he is still just average in overall accuracy. We have some very talented WR's that make up for his issues.
I do like the leadership he shows, arm strength, pocket presence and his courage on the field. He seems to so close to being a very good QB...he is just having a hard time taking that next level.
Hopefully, it won't cost us any games; but I fear it will.

 

[TBCat]

He played pretty well. I don't see how anyone can say otherwise. You're doing something right if you complete 72% of your passes.

4 of those completions were forward pitches on jet sweeps. Basically a hand off that counts for passing yards. That's 4 ouf of the 20 completions. 72% is good but it has to be taken with a grain of salt win 1/5 of your completions are hand offs.

Patrick is still staring down receivers and not going through progressions. At least a couple times he had an uncovered receiver that he didn't throw to. Instead threw into double coverage. He's still locking in on one option. The 2nd half shows that our staff looks at him as a game manager QB and not a play maker. Their goal is to just get him to not lose a game. That's fine as long as our defense shuts people out.

 

[dmaso44]

Personally, I noticed Towles had quite a few split ends and the frizzies. I suspect this is due to using low quality hair care products. Maybe if he starts using Wen in the future his hair will perform much better.

 

[brianpoe]

I thought he was improved from ULL... IMO he is still just average in overall accuracy. We have some very talented WR's that make up for his issues.
I do like the leadership he shows, arm strength, pocket presence and his courage on the field. He seems to so close to being a very good QB...he is just having a hard time taking that next level.
Hopefully, it won't cost us any games; but I fear it will.

Hopefully he doesn't, but I think he definitely improved in a hostile environment.

 

[brianpoe]

4 of those completions were forward pitches on jet sweeps. Basically a hand off that counts for passing yards. That's 4 ouf of the 20 completions. 72% is good but it has to be taken with a grain of salt win 1/5 of your completions are hand offs.

Patrick is still staring down receivers and not going through progressions. At least a couple times he had an uncovered receiver that he didn't throw to. Instead threw into double coverage. He's still locking in on one option. The 2nd half shows that our staff looks at him as a game manager QB and not a play maker. Their goal is to just get him to not lose a game. That's fine as long as our defense shuts people out.

He had a couple of plays that he actually went through his progressions to the dump off, or maybe just primary to dump off. That is tough, the Bengals QB had this issue for the last 4 years - looked great yesterday though.

That will come with more snaps and confidence, he may be waiting on primary receiver to get open too long. I am sure he isn't looking off safeties at this juncture anyways.

 

[Dallas-Wild]

Based on the playcalling. In the 2nd half, they stacked the LOS to stop the run. We had WRs that were open all game long. But we threw the ball sparingly.

I keep seeing "Oh but he completed 72% of his passess!" Yes he did. But he only had 192 yards. Thats a good game for Max Smith with the talent from 2 years ago. But not a good game from Towles, considering his talent, and the talent of his current surrounding cast.

He threw a terrible pick, missed WR's (at least one for a TD), but made some timely throws and a great run. So I gave him a C; and people are acting like im crazy. The reality is this: for whatever reason, our QB (who has 1st/2nd round talent) is the weak link in our offense. Who ever thought that would be possible? While its frustrating, because Towles can clearly play much better. At least that also means the rest of the unit is performing at a very high level.

In no way am I questioning your desire for PT to be successful because you and I both are diehard UK Football fans, and we both know its great for us when PT is playing to his potential.

On the terrible pick he was hit right when he threw the pass which changed the pass. I read where you said he could have stepped up in the pocket. But he was in the end zone and there was not much if any of a pocket to step up into. The hit came from behind, had he been able to follow through he had the completion....as far as the staff and the play calling, maybe they went conservative after some flags put us into bad field position I really can't say what they were thinking it would be just speculation on my part.

 

[thornie1]

Based on the playcalling. In the 2nd half, they stacked the LOS to stop the run. We had WRs that were open all game long. But we threw the ball sparingly.

I keep seeing "Oh but he completed 72% of his passess!" Yes he did. But he only had 192 yards. Thats a good game for Max Smith with the talent from 2 years ago. But not a good game from Towles, considering his talent, and the talent of his current surrounding cast.

He threw a terrible pick, missed WR's (at least one for a TD), but made some timely throws and a great run. So I gave him a C; and people are acting like im crazy. The reality is this: for whatever reason, our QB (who has 1st/2nd round talent) is the weak link in our offense. Who ever thought that would be possible? While its frustrating, because Towles can clearly play much better. At least that also means the rest of the unit is performing at a very high level.

Just for the record about not throwing it in 2nd half and making it sound like all we did was run. On the first 4 possessions of the 2nd half, which all went 3 and out, UK passed the ball 6 times and ran it 6....On the 5th possession it went pass-pass-pass-pass with a first down and then thank god Foster made a kick. On the 6th possession which was the last and we know how that turned out. We closed out the game by....wait for it....by running the ball the last four plays before the victory formations.

 

[metrueblue]

I REALLY hope you are being sarcastic here......

Do you honestly think that Towles shaking his hair back really meant he was looking for a camera to pose for and not thinking about the actual game?

Boom!

 

[cawood12]

d

So you're just going to be the fan boy here and that's fine. I'm not saying you just throw for the sake of throwing but three or four 3 and outs in a row was not what UK wanted there. First couple of drives you have a point. There were penalties, and lost yardage but after that, UK continued to run into a wall and just didn't change. Defense was gassed at the end of the game and UK got lucky SC threw just an awful pass or we're probably all having a much different conversation today.

I think this is more on growing pains with Dawson then on Towles but 2nd half Towles, when they did pass, had that scared look he had against Lafayette and rushed his throws. No matter how you slice it the tale of two halves UK has had has to be corrected

You make my point, first 2 series field position and penalty's make you play conservatively. The defense shows what it can do and you are 2scores up. Why take the chance with poor field position. The gamecocks made the mistake and the turnover won the game for us. You do not always have to attack. Let the other guy make a mistake. We started the second half up 17 points, you do not need to take extra risks.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Actually they did not stack the box in the 2nd half. We were 2nd and very long the whole 3rd quarter and they played 2 deep safeties most of the time. If they would have stacked the box on 2nd and 20 we would have burned them deep.

I noticed they gave a 2 deep look alot of times. But everyone was playing run. Maybe it was just a cat and mouse scheme that fooled our staff for a bit. Or maybe they just manned up and started playing better. It seemed to me they were just scheming run the whole way.

Why are you ignoring the completion percentage? If he throws 10 more times he has 270 yards.. whoop T do

Why are you so hung up on stats? 74% says he was efficient.

See below.

4 of those completions were forward pitches on jet sweeps. Basically a hand off that counts for passing yards. That's 4 ouf of the 20 completions. 72% is good but it has to be taken with a grain of salt win 1/5 of your completions are hand offs.

This is a much better way of saying what I tried to. You have alot of completions that were sweeps, screens, or short throws to a WR. He SHOULD have a high percentage, given those.

Even as talented as Towles is, and the talent around him - we are 7th in the SEC in passing efficiency. Thats ok (why I gave him a C) but far from what we should be.

In no way am I questioning your desire for PT to be successful because you and I both are diehard UK Football fans, and we both know its great for us when PT is playing to his potential.

On the terrible pick he was hit right when he threw the pass which changed the pass. I read where you said he could have stepped up in the pocket. But he was in the end zone and there was not much if any of a pocket to step up into. The hit came from behind, had he been able to follow through he had the completion....as far as the staff and the play calling, maybe they went conservative after some flags put us into bad field position I really can't say what they were thinking it would be just speculation on my part.

Thats perfectly reasonable take, and you may be well right.

Just for the record about not throwing it in 2nd half and making it sound like all we did was run. On the first 4 possessions of the 2nd half, which all went 3 and out, UK passed the ball 6 times and ran it 6....On the 5th possession it went pass-pass-pass-pass with a first down and then thank god Foster made a kick. On the 6th possession which was the last and we know how that turned out. We closed out the game by....wait for it....by running the ball the last four plays before the victory formations.

We didnt get a chance to do much of anything beause we went 3 and out 3 or 4 times in a row. Plus a few of those passes were pitchouts or extended handoffs; not the typical drop back.

Although it is important point that once Towles did complete a few drop backs, it once again opened up alot of running lanes and let us close out the game.

 

[brianpoe]

4 of those completions were forward pitches on jet sweeps. Basically a hand off that counts for passing yards. That's 4 ouf of the 20 completions. 72% is good but it has to be taken with a grain of salt win 1/5 of your completions are hand offs.

[QUOTE="
This is a much better way of saying what I tried to. You have alot of completions that were sweeps, screens, or short throws to a WR. He SHOULD have a high percentage, given those.
.

Although it is important point that once Towles did complete a few drop backs, it once again opened up alot of running lanes and let us close out the game.[/QUOTE]



Gentlemen, with all due respect, if you take away his jet sweeps, be great if you could provide the data for these 4, the completion percentage is still the same... 74%

Math is math.

What completion percentage do you want? The highest career completion percentage in the NFL is only 66%...

 

[Dallas-Wild]

[QUOTE="
This is a much better way of saying what I tried to. You have alot of completions that were sweeps, screens, or short throws to a WR. He SHOULD have a high percentage, given those.
.

Although it is important point that once Towles did complete a few drop backs, it once again opened up alot of running lanes and let us close out the game.

Gentlemen, with all due respect, if you take away his jet sweeps, be great if you could provide the data for these 4, the completion percentage is still the same... 74%

Math is math.

What completion percentage do you want? The highest career completion percentage in the NFL is only 66%...[/QUOTE]

I just went back to watch the game again....and yes it was just as sweet!

On our 2nd possession in the 2nd half PT hits Baker for a 12 yard first down on the very first play. Called back for holding, so we go from a 1st and 10 to a 1st and 20...loss of 22 yards.

Really only saw 2 bad passes, maybe another but the one he throws out of bounds the pocket was collapsing and he didn't take a loss.

Then the Badet pass that he totally missed, had he lead Badet I don't think the safety could have stopped Badet from scoring. It was a pass he has to make.

PT played a very good game. Will also add Baker plays violent football I love it!