Kentucky is still weighing options in backup quarterback battle

adamluckettksr

Deuce Hogan — (Photo courtesy of Dr. Michael Huang/KSR)

Will Levis is the clear guy for the Kentucky football program behind center. The redshirt senior seems poised for a huge year. However, new offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello is unsure about his depth chart at the sport’s most important position.

Kentucky is all-in on Levis, but the Wildcats must build some depth at quarterback. Despite Beau Allen appearing to be the top guy at QB2 entering the spring, Scangarello is not ready to name a clear top backup option.

“It’s a competition,” Scangarello told reporters on Saturday. “No one has really asserted themselves — it’s been day to day — one guy takes a step forward, and the next guy takes a step forward or back. So I just rotated guys through to see what they could handle and put them under stress. There were some play calls that I would never make in the game, but I wanted to see what do you do on first down from the four-yard line when I call a dropback pass. Can you avoid a sack? Can you make a play?

In that situation, Iowa transfer Deuce Hogan was in the game and took a bad sack on a prime scoring opportunity. However, the former four-star recruit did do some positive things making plays off-platform and showing an arm that can threaten defenses at multiple levels.

Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning

By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.

Elsewhere, redshirt Kaiya Sheron appears to also be in the mix despite being the fourth quarterback used on Saturday. The Somerset (Ky.) High product can make plays in the vertical game and hit Keaton Upshaw for a big gain in the scrimmage.

Overall, the three reserves finished the scrimmage completing less than 50 percent of their combined 31 passes with a 5.9 yards per attempt average. That combination of efficiency and explosiveness simply won’t be good enough.

Kentucky must find a clear guy to take hold of the backup job over the summer and into fall camp. The immediate future of the position looks bright but there will be some worries once the program gets by the 2022 season.

“It’s an ongoing evaluation, and we’ll see where it lands,” said Scangarello.