By Jordan Ondrof

[email protected]

Even on a bye week, UK football, and their media obligations, don’t stop. The Cats held three press conferences this week before going on a media hiatus until Monday. Here is what we learned:

Stoops is supporting Towles 

Head coach Mark Stoops spoke on his weekly radio show on Monday and was not shy about defending his starting quarterback or his decision to keep him in the game after a disappointing first half. Towles is sixth in the league in passing yards per game and has 1,153 passing yards on the season.

“As I said after the Florida game, it’s always easy to put the bullseye on the quarterback,” Stoops said. “Put it on the head coach. That’s what they pay for me: to take the criticism. The players, I like to stay away from that. We’re all going to be held accountable, and those players are. In our meetings he understands that he needs to play better, but he’s done some awfully good things and led us to some victories in some close games.”

Boom is back

Stoops confirmed that his starting running back would return for Auburn in his post game press conference on Sunday. Running back Stanley “Boom” Williams finally fully participated in practice on Tuesday, he addressed the media afterward. This was the first time Williams has spoken with the media since he walked out in the 4th quarter of the Missouri game and missed the game against Eastern Kentucky University due to “personal issues.”

“I’m getting prepared for Auburn. Another chance, another great opportunity, and most of all I’m just happy to be back on the field with my team and be able to play with those guys here next week and prepare for a great Auburn team coming in,” Williams said.

Baker will continue to get better

Wide receiver Dorian Baker had two touchdowns against EKU, including one to tie the game with 0:52 left in the 4th quarter and the other in overtime to win the game. He talked to the media on Wednesday about what has changed in the offseason to improve his game.

“Ive matured a lot. I’ve gotten a lot bigger and stronger. My mindset changed as far as were I want to be in life and where I want to go,” Baker said.

Dawson is trying to make his offense more consistent 

Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson spent a lot of time after the EKU game analyzing film of his offense. The offense is young, leading to inconsistency across the board and a frustrated Dawson.

“It wasn’t just one guy,” Dawson said. I mean, one time it might have been an o-lineman, one time it might have been a running back, one time it might have been Patrick, one time it might have been a receiver. We’ve always got one guy that’s a key guy that’s not doing his job. So, it takes time and coaching, and we’ve got to keep pounding out those issues of when we do stumble why we stumble and then ultimately get better. We’ve got to find some level of consistency where we’re playing not so up and down, where it’ a little more even keel.”