'It just takes one ball,' Kentucky Pass Offense Seeking Breakthrough

The Kentucky passing game was supposed to be a strength of the team. Through the first three games of SEC play, it’s been anything but that.

Devin Leary has not been the prince that was promised. He’s completed just 45.9% of his passes against SEC opponents for 5.4 yards per attempts. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen is sticking by his quarterback to help him push through early season struggles.

“I think it’s just sticking with him and working through it,” Coen said after a spirited Tuesday Kentucky football practice. “It’s not perfect right now. It’s not what any of us planned or hoped for. But at the end of the day, we got to get through it and we got to be there for him to be able to get through it.

“There’s some things when the bullets were flying on Saturday, things are happening in the pocket and just at the end of day he just needs to go out and play his game. Be confident and be Devin Leary because the Devin Leary that I know is a confident dude that comes out and can sling the thing and we need to get that guy going and I think he will.”

Leary Focused on the Little Things

What’s so perplexing about the passing game is its inconsistency. He’s made some incredibly difficult throws look easy, while some of the easy throws have been far off-target. The Kentucky quarterback isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel to regain his confidence.

“Honestly, just making the layups, making the easy throws, getting back to just playing the way I’ve always played, not thinking too much,” Leary told the media Tuesday.

Many have wondered if the offseason surgery to his torn pec has affected his play. He dismissed that speculation. His struggles originate more from a mental block, not physical limitations.

“Those throws need to be made, those completions need to be made, especially in games like that,” said Leary.

“I put a lot on myself. I’m my biggest critic and I always tell the offense that it starts with me. It starts with how I’m managing the game, how I’m operating the offense. And honestly, there’s no excuse for it to be one step off or one yard away from a catch. It’s my job to give those guys a chance and make sure that we can make plays and that just didn’t happen on Saturday on some instances. So I just got to be better.”

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It Only Takes One Play to Change the Season

Like Leary and Coen, wide receivers coach Scott Woodward was a college quarterback. While discussing the offense’s struggles with seasoned coaching veteran Eddie Gran, the former UK play-caller drew from experience to provide counsel.

“It just takes one ball, one throw and catch to turn this thing around,” Woodward recalled. “We’re not pressing by any means. We’re trying to just go out there and do our job, Devin the same way. We throw and catch a lot during the week during practice. I think it’s going to click here sooner or later.”

Kentucky obviously needs to complete more than one pass to win. It’s stringing together a couple of passes that can get everyone back on track.

“It’s about building with that momentum, not taking steps backwards, missing easy layups or causing penalties to hurt ourselves; just little things that kind of stop our momentum. I think we’re a very explosive group. We have a lot of guys that can make a lot of plays. But if we hurt ourselves, we kind of just stop that rhythm from happening,” said Leary.

It’s been tough on the Kentucky passing offense. Their struggles aren’t for a lack of effort. Liam Coen is confident things will click soon and this offense will fire on all cylinders.

“These kids aren’t going to quit. The coaches aren’t gonna quit,” said the Kentucky offensive coordinator. “We’re not going to just say, ‘Well, we haven’t thrown the ball well, so let’s just stop throwing it. I didn’t do that Saturday as a play-caller. I trusted these kids to make throws and catches and I’m going to continue to do so until that happens.”

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