Kentucky QB Patrick Towles Makes His Claim as Best QB in SEC East

For Kentucky fans, Saturday was surely disappointing. A young Wildcats team pushed No. 1 Mississippi State extremely hard before falling 45-31 at Commonwealth Stadium, dropping UK to 5-3 on the season, 2-3 in SEC play.

Through the gloom, a light emerged in sophomore quarterback Patrick Towles. Towles had the best game of his young career, completing 24 of 43 passes for 390 yards and two touchdowns against no interceptions. He added 76 rushing yards and two scores on 23 carries.

In doing so, he showed that he’s the best quarterback in the SEC East and only has room to grow along with his young teammates.

Think about it. Who else would you pick over Towles?

South Carolina senior quarterback Dylan Thompson entered Saturday with 1,835 passing yards and 15 touchdowns against six interceptions, but his only 300-yard passing game came in the opener against Texas A&M.

Georgia’s Hutson Mason has 1,022 passing yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions and has yet to even hit 200 passing yards in a game this season. Missouri’s Maty Mauk has 16 touchdowns against nine picks, including a two-game stretch against Georgia and Florida that saw him combine for 117 passing yards, no touchdowns and five interceptions.

Against a solid Mississippi State defense, Towles kept Kentucky in the game, showing no fear either running or passing downfield. It was his third 300-yard passing game of the season, joining a 377-yard effort in a season-opening win over UT-Martin and a 369-yard night in a 36-30, triple-overtime loss to Florida.

Kentucky is one of the nation’s most improved teams and needs only one win in its final four games against Missouri, No. 9 Georgia, Tennessee and Louisville to make a bowl game.

With an improving Towles at the helm, that quest has a sense of inevitability. The Wildcats are on the right track, particularly with the young quarterback at the helm.