Terry Wilson was Kentucky's lowest-graded player (Pro Football Focus) against Central Michigan, and Kentucky's highest-graded player against Florida.
The truth is things are rarely as good or as bad as they seem to be. But we've seen what Wilson is capable of already, in terms of both positives and negatives.
Here's a closer look at how the Wildcats' sophomore quarterback transfer played in Gainesville.
Terry Wilson against Florida (John Raoux/AP)
Wilson on the ground
Pro Football Focus gave Florida's defense four hurries, with two of those attributed to right guard Bunchy Stallings (who, incidentally, won SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week) and two of those falling at the feet of Wilson himself. Still, it was clear throughout the game that Wilson was showing a great feel for the pocket and wasn't shying away from attacking running lanes with his legs when things opened up on the ground. Most of his rushing yards (68/105) were the result of undesigned scrambles.
On Wilson's long touchdown run in the third quarter, to give Kentucky a 14-10 lead and silence the Swamp, he faked a pitch to Benny Snell and, without hesitation, sliced through a hole in the line and slashed through the second level, outrunning a Florida defensive back who had an angle but hadn't hit his stride.
Deeper dive into Wilson's big game
Wilson had a 112.2 passer rating (NFL). He was 11/16 through the air and had two drops, so he easily could have finished 13/16. Of those incompletions, one was a throwaway to protect the football. There was the interception, but eight of his throws went for first downs. When you couple all of that with his rushing stats and the fact that the fumble was going to be extremely difficult to avoid, Wilson played a truly excellent game and was at a high level on about 90-percent of his snaps where he ultimately passed or ran himself.
Overall, Wilson dropped back to pass 20 times, throwing 16 of those times and scrambling the other four. On those 20 dropbacks, Kentucky amassed 219 yards. That comes out to an excellent average. Compare that to the Central Michigan game, when Wilson also dropped back to pass 20 times but only accounted for 78 total yards.
Below is Terry Wilson's passing chart for the entire season.
Terry Wilson's passing chart against Florida in Week 2 (PFF)
Terry Wilson's passing chart through two weeks of the regular season (PFF)
The biggest difference from Week 1 to Week 2, in attacking the defense, was Wilson hitting two long passes to the deep down the right sideline in the secondary, both for touchdowns.
There are usually two questions about a college quarterback every time there's a change at the position: How accurate are they on the short/intermediate range passes and how effectively can they stretch the defense?
On the first point, Wilson is 17/21 on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage up to 10 yards. So he should have already answered any questions there might have existed about his accuracy and ability to deliver the ball with efficiency and consistency near the line of scrimmage.
His deep balls against Central Michigan left a lot to be desired, but as the above chart illustrates, that's starting to come around or it did in Week 2.
One thing Wilson has not demonstrated (and hasn't really been asked to much) is the ability to complete the intermediate/deep out patterns.
What is also clear is that Kentucky's plays and Wilson's decisions have led to the Cats attacking the middle of the field in the passing game. In the short/intermediate/deep game, 21 of Wilson's 32 pass attempts (66-percent) have been in the middle of the field around that area between the hash marks. Some of that is a reflection of Kentucky getting the ball to reliable targets like Lynn Bowden, David Bouvier and C.J. Conrad on shallow crossing routes, which are among the most popular throws in the college game.
For context and the sake of comparison, here is the passing chart for Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks, which illustrates how the Gators attacked UK's secondary quite differently, stretching and using more of the field but with less efficiency and a much lower completion percentage.
Feleipe Franks' passing chart against Kentucky (PFF)
One reason the touchdown pass to Lynn Bowden might have been successful is the sophomore wide out did see any deep balls thrown his way against Central Michigan. In fact he was targeted only once on a route beyond 10 yards against the Chippewas.
Where UK and Wilson can improve the passing game
One thing Kentucky has not done successful through two weeks, either in a poor offensive performance in Week 1 or a better Week 2, is involve the outside receivers in the passing game. Outside receivers were targeted four times for one catch against Florida. Dorian Baker didn't have any targets against the Gators.
Against Central Michigan, UK's quarterbacks targeted outside receivers (Baker, Tavin Richardson, Josh Ali, Isaiah Epps) six times, completing two passes and throwing one pick.
If Kentucky does not start to successfully target outside receivers in the passing game it's easy to imagine defenses will be able to more easily adjust and start to take away some of the things that were available against Florida.
The truth is things are rarely as good or as bad as they seem to be. But we've seen what Wilson is capable of already, in terms of both positives and negatives.
Here's a closer look at how the Wildcats' sophomore quarterback transfer played in Gainesville.
Terry Wilson against Florida (John Raoux/AP)
Wilson on the ground
Pro Football Focus gave Florida's defense four hurries, with two of those attributed to right guard Bunchy Stallings (who, incidentally, won SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week) and two of those falling at the feet of Wilson himself. Still, it was clear throughout the game that Wilson was showing a great feel for the pocket and wasn't shying away from attacking running lanes with his legs when things opened up on the ground. Most of his rushing yards (68/105) were the result of undesigned scrambles.
On Wilson's long touchdown run in the third quarter, to give Kentucky a 14-10 lead and silence the Swamp, he faked a pitch to Benny Snell and, without hesitation, sliced through a hole in the line and slashed through the second level, outrunning a Florida defensive back who had an angle but hadn't hit his stride.
Deeper dive into Wilson's big game
Wilson had a 112.2 passer rating (NFL). He was 11/16 through the air and had two drops, so he easily could have finished 13/16. Of those incompletions, one was a throwaway to protect the football. There was the interception, but eight of his throws went for first downs. When you couple all of that with his rushing stats and the fact that the fumble was going to be extremely difficult to avoid, Wilson played a truly excellent game and was at a high level on about 90-percent of his snaps where he ultimately passed or ran himself.
Overall, Wilson dropped back to pass 20 times, throwing 16 of those times and scrambling the other four. On those 20 dropbacks, Kentucky amassed 219 yards. That comes out to an excellent average. Compare that to the Central Michigan game, when Wilson also dropped back to pass 20 times but only accounted for 78 total yards.
Below is Terry Wilson's passing chart for the entire season.
Terry Wilson's passing chart against Florida in Week 2 (PFF)
Terry Wilson's passing chart through two weeks of the regular season (PFF)
The biggest difference from Week 1 to Week 2, in attacking the defense, was Wilson hitting two long passes to the deep down the right sideline in the secondary, both for touchdowns.
There are usually two questions about a college quarterback every time there's a change at the position: How accurate are they on the short/intermediate range passes and how effectively can they stretch the defense?
On the first point, Wilson is 17/21 on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage up to 10 yards. So he should have already answered any questions there might have existed about his accuracy and ability to deliver the ball with efficiency and consistency near the line of scrimmage.
His deep balls against Central Michigan left a lot to be desired, but as the above chart illustrates, that's starting to come around or it did in Week 2.
One thing Wilson has not demonstrated (and hasn't really been asked to much) is the ability to complete the intermediate/deep out patterns.
What is also clear is that Kentucky's plays and Wilson's decisions have led to the Cats attacking the middle of the field in the passing game. In the short/intermediate/deep game, 21 of Wilson's 32 pass attempts (66-percent) have been in the middle of the field around that area between the hash marks. Some of that is a reflection of Kentucky getting the ball to reliable targets like Lynn Bowden, David Bouvier and C.J. Conrad on shallow crossing routes, which are among the most popular throws in the college game.
For context and the sake of comparison, here is the passing chart for Florida quarterback Feleipe Franks, which illustrates how the Gators attacked UK's secondary quite differently, stretching and using more of the field but with less efficiency and a much lower completion percentage.
Feleipe Franks' passing chart against Kentucky (PFF)
One reason the touchdown pass to Lynn Bowden might have been successful is the sophomore wide out did see any deep balls thrown his way against Central Michigan. In fact he was targeted only once on a route beyond 10 yards against the Chippewas.
Where UK and Wilson can improve the passing game
One thing Kentucky has not done successful through two weeks, either in a poor offensive performance in Week 1 or a better Week 2, is involve the outside receivers in the passing game. Outside receivers were targeted four times for one catch against Florida. Dorian Baker didn't have any targets against the Gators.
Against Central Michigan, UK's quarterbacks targeted outside receivers (Baker, Tavin Richardson, Josh Ali, Isaiah Epps) six times, completing two passes and throwing one pick.
If Kentucky does not start to successfully target outside receivers in the passing game it's easy to imagine defenses will be able to more easily adjust and start to take away some of the things that were available against Florida.
