Key part of Kentucky football's passing game has yet to be unlocked
Key part of Kentucky football's passing game has yet to be unlocked
Ryan Black, Louisville Courier JournalThu, November 12, 2026 at 10:12 AM UTC
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LEXINGTON — By many measures, Kentucky football's Kenny Minchey has been among the best quarterbacks in the SEC — and the country at large — this fall. He enters this week just outside the top 10 in the FBS in completion percentage (69.9). He averages nearly 21 completions per game, which ranks third in the conference. And he's kept interceptions to a minimum, with just two all season; only Missouri's Austin Simmons has thrown more passes (283) than Minchey (266) among SEC signal callers while totaling only two INTs.
But for all of Minchey's success, one reason for his efficiency is he's feasted on short throws.
Per Pro Football Focus, Minchey has completed 80.8% (84 for 104) of his "short passes," which are defined of throws between 0 and 9 yards. He's even more accurate behind the line of scrimmage, where he's connected on 94.4% (67 for 71) of his screen attempts.
It's a different story on longer tosses.
Minchey is 24 for 42 (57.1%) on "medium passes," which are throws between 10 and 19 yards. And on deep throws — those of 20 yards or longer — he's just 11 of 31 (35.5%). Just three of his completions this season have covered 40 or more yards. For context, 15 quarterbacks nationally have at least 10 such completions, including SEC leader Arch Manning and Louisville's Lincoln Kienholz.
It must be noted, of course, that the farther the throw, the higher the level of difficulty. Not to mention the fact defenders have more time to react to a ball in the air as opposed to one that doesn't even cross the line of scrimmage.
His teammates haven't been perfect hauling in those aforementioned long throws, as the Wildcats are credited with two drops. (The walk-in touchdown freshman wide receiver Kenny Darby dropped at Texas A&M is the most glaring example.) Yet Minchey hasn't helped himself at times, either.
Of his 31 deep throws, he has a Turnover Worthy Play Rate of 9.4%. PFF defines a Turnover Worthy Play as "a pass that has a high percentage chance to be intercepted or a poor job of taking care of the ball and fumbling." Minchey's percentage ranks 30th nationally. It's the second-worst percentage in the conference; only Arkansas' KJ Jackson has been more risky at 11.6%.
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The numbers don't lie: Minchey has been well-below average on deep throws. His PFF grade of 66.1 is tied for 130th of the 156 FBS quarterbacks evaluated by the site. That ranked above only two of his SEC colleagues: Auburn's Byrum Brown at 58.9 and Jackson (again) at 52.5.
Stat
Total
SEC rank
10+ yard comp
80
T-5
20+ yard comp
28
T-4
30+ yard comp
12
T-7
40+ yard comp
3
T-11
50+ yard comp
1
T-11
Minchey's teammates have picked up the slack elsewhere, though. It should surprise no one the Cats' top two receivers in receptions and yards — Darby and tight end Willie Rodriguez — also rank 1-2 in yards after a catch (YAC). Darby has 309 yards after catches this season, while Rodriguez is at 260. No other UK player is even above 150.
Bottom line: Minchey must start completing deep throws at a higher clip and force defenses to respect his arm strength.
That begins with this week's matchup versus Florida, which kicks off at 6:15 p.m. Nov. 14 at Kroger Field.
Kentucky coach Will Stein just hopes his team doesn't have to rely on deep tosses to generate game-breaking plays.
"I think we have run-and-catch opportunities," he said after the team's 34-6 loss at Tennessee last week. "We've got to break some tackles. I think explosives happen not just by deep balls — like everybody wants to see."
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Key part of Kentucky football's passing game has yet to be unlocked
Source: “AOL Sports”
