By Alex Forkner | Football Columnist

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Out of the wreckage and rubble of UK’s loss to Western Kentucky University last Saturday, a leader has emerged. At least that’s the hope of Cats head coach Mark Stoops and offensive coordinator Neal Brown.

Both coaches said sophomore Maxwell Smith, named the starting quarterback for the home opener against Miami University (Ohio) on Saturday, has started to show what it takes to guide his teammates to victory.

“I think it’s gotten to the point now where it’s, ‘Hey, the heck with it. Let me just take it and do the best I can,’ and that’s what we’re looking for,” Stoops said. “So I see a little bit of a change in him.”

Though it may have been hard to glean any positives from the nightmare in Nashville, Smith’s entrance into the game was a defibrillator for UK’s offense, shocking it back into rhythm.

“He made less mistakes and he did some of the basic things that we’re looking for correctly and distributed the ball where we needed to,” Stoops said. “So that was the big thing with helping us move the football.”

Brown seems to think Smith is more comfortable now that he’s the No. 1 guy.

“I think that comfort is a good word for that. It’s hard to be a leader as a backup. I think you can, but it’s hard,” he said.

Smith looked the part of an “Air Raid” quarterback in his limited action, fitting the ball into tight spaces and finding guys downfield. Sophomore quarterback Jalen Whitlow, however, looked the part of a “Ground Raid” quarterback, busting off a few long runs, including one for a touchdown.

Brown said the Cats are not making any drastic changes. So an entirely different human being running the offense doesn’t count as drastic?

“Will we look different with Jalen at quarterback than Max? Yes. Yes, we will,” Brown said. “But does the base of the offense change? No. Maybe what I call does, but the offense doesn’t.”

As a newly-minted starter, Smith probably wants to get out to a fast start against the RedHawks this Saturday. Nerves hindered Whitlow’s performance, but Smith doesn’t see the same scenario happening with him.

“I feel pressure every game,” Smith said. “I feel the same amount of pressure every game. It doesn’t really matter who we’re playing.”

Now that the quarterback battle seems decided, the offense should benefit. Letting the mystery linger into opening week probably detracted from each guy’s claim as a team leader. Whitlow will still see action in certain situations Saturday, but Smith said this is his team to lead now.

“I feel like the team sees me as a leader, but I feel like I have to take control of the team more often, maybe,” he said. “Other guys lead too, you know. I’m not the only one. I think everyone on the offense has to sort of lead themselves so we can all lead each other, in a way.”

And his expectations going forward?

“We’re not as good as we thought we were and we have to get better; that’s for sure.”

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