Rowland: 10 thoughts on Stephen Johnson before his last game in Lexington
No matter how the Louisville game and Kentucky's bowl appearance play out on the field, quarterback Stephen Johnson will leave the Cats' football program with sky-high favorability ratings. Once Johnson leaves, most fans will probably appreciate him more.
Appreciate him now for the short time he's still got in blue and white, because Kentucky's history before Johnson proves that competence and the heart of a winner are qualities that can't be taken for granted in a quarterback.
Saturday will mark the final time that Johnson lines up behind center as Kentucky's starter. It seems like only yesterday when he was thrust into that New Mexico State game in 2016, with the Cats struggling and Mark Stoops' future very much in doubt. But largely because of Johnson, and as much because of him as anything or anyone else, Kentucky football is in a very different place today.
1. Johnson has earned the respect and loyalty of Kentucky football fans, but history will be even kinder to him.
People are almost always judged less harshly once they've moved on.
That's a reflection of how easy it is to become a prisoner of the present moment, influenced by the emotions of now - in particular, the negative emotions, which stick with us like velcro - more than clear eyed perspective.
Presidents almost invariably see their approval rating gradually climb once they have left office.
There's no scientific way to measure the way Kentucky football fans feel about Mike Hartline, for instance. But I'd venture to guess that any criticism would be more tempered now than they were at the turn of the last decade.
Stephen Johnson has actually enjoyed an improved image while he's still Kentucky's quarterback. Again, there's no way to measure that, but it's hard to believe anyone would dispute it.
2. When Stephen Johnson became "QB1" and "my quarterback" for many Kentucky football fans.
Even coming into the 2017 football season, after Johnson led Kentucky to a 7-4 record down the stretch in 2016, a large number of people (and not just a fringe group, mind you) sincerely expected Drew Barker to win the starting job back when he had proved he was healthy. Some of that was believing in what Barker did in the first half against Southern Miss last year, but a lot of it was a lack of faith in Johnson's ability to lead to the offense to its potential because of lackluster passing games last year. Now, you probably couldn't find ten Kentucky football diehards who believe anyone on the roster should be in Johnson's place. If anything, the struggles in the Wildcat formation earlier in the year led some of them to scream at the top of their lungs for Gran to "leave the quarterback on the field!" That inaccurate winner from 2016 has fully become "QB1" or "my quarterback" to many people, including some pretty harsh critics.
Sadly, it probably took Barker's inability to rekindle the explosiveness of that first half against USM last year for Kentucky fans or a great many of them to finally resign themselves to Johnson as "QB1". Some appreciated him before that so it's worth noting a great many fans were quick to jump on the Johnson train as the wins piled up. But his approval, not universal but overwhelmingly positive, seems to have begun with the realization, after Barker's EKU showing, that this simply had to be Johnson's team.
3. Johnson is rare in that he has escaped the often harsh criticism quarterbacks (at every level) generally face when things don't go well.
Johnson has been spared harsh criticism even during the worst times in 2017. That's rare. If you want to be popular, don't become a quarterback and don't become an offensive coordinator. Some quarterbacks and coordinators really are bad, we have to believe, but they're often Scapegoats 1A and 1B. But judging by the tone of discussion forums, podcasts, radio shows, pundit-penned articles and even, yes, Twitter, Johnson has rarely been singled out by Kentucky fans at large as the culprit. Those most often criticized: The offensive line (earlier in the year), the secondary (really all year), the defensive line (the second half of the year) and certain coaches at times. But Johnson, through thick and thin, good games and statistical duds, has remained one of if not the most popular player on the team. He's teflon.
I know from experience that a critical review of anything Stephen Johnson is greeted with a heavy-handed backlash that is sometimes deserved, in my snap judgment, but sometimes a bit too forgiving and prone to overlook a weakness. But that's a testament to how he's won over hearts and minds.
Johnson's popularity with Kentucky fans defies a broader tendency in the sport for a fan base to exaggerate a quarterback's flaws, take good traits for granted and dwell on the failures. That's refreshing because it shows a kind of perspective that is rare.
4. There's nothing the outcome of the next two games can do to change perceptions of him at this point.
Just wait until Saturday, when Johnson receives a bona fide hero's farewell at Kroger Field. Win or lose, his legacy has been cemented for most UK fans. It has nothing to do with his numbers or any series of passes that are etched in Wildcat lore.
Johnson's legend and what he's admired for has come to transcend any limitation, failure or off game he might produce. Whereas most high profile athletes do not get the benefit of the doubt (strangely, they get it less from many of their team's diehard fans than even outside observers), Johnson has earned the longer leash he's given by many fans.
That he has carried himself with class, dignity, as a great ambassador for the program and school, and with courage, certain goes into that.
Many people are saying the success or failure of Kentucky's 2017 football campaign depends upon the outcome of Saturday's game against Louisville. With all due respect, granting a case can be made for that, Johnson's legacy is sure.
5. Johnson's record was, is and always will be the trump card in any debate about him. It shouldn't have taken us so long to figure that out.
There's a recognition that Johnson's record as the primary quarterback (14-8) is the trump card in any debate over what he's done as a player. Only a lot of winning, compared to past Kentucky teams, made that perspective possible. And it's the right perspective. The quarterbacks immediately preceding Johnson did not do what he has done. Drew Barker and Patrick Towles waged very public and dramatic quarterback battles, but because both were balleyhooed in-state recruits (Kentucky fans love their quarterbacks and their in-state recruits, and they really love their in-state quarterbacks until they turn on them) they took a lot of criticism because of the perception of not living up to expectations. Also, they never took Kentucky to a bowl game, even when just one more win would have done it.
You have to go all the way back to Hartline to find a quarterback who put together an actual record remotely comparable to Johnson's. Hartline was 16-13 in games when he took the lion's share of the snaps behind center. But that was on the heels on the Andre Woodson era. Those wins came after Woodson had thrown for 40 touchdowns in a season and led the program to some of its biggest wins ever. And, the fact remains, Hartline had Randall Cobb.
Hartline was probably never as appreciated as he should have been. His senior year, yes, marred by an unfortunate decision before the bowl game, was certainly a great campaign. He has probably seen his image rehabilitated in part because of how the program fell off the map after he left, but he never enjoyed anything like the popularity Johnson now enjoys or, even more, probably will enjoy once more time has elapsed.
6. Has Stephen Johnson ever, in almost two years, been the main reason Kentucky has lost a single game?
Has Johnson ever lost a game for Kentucky? Sure, he's been on the wrong end of eight final scores since September of '16. But, looking back, was he ever the primary cause of Kentucky's defeat in any of those eight losses?
His fumbles didn't always help last year, and that did set Kentucky back against Georgia Tech in the TaxSlayer Bowl. But it's probably fair to say that Kentucky's offensive line did not play to the level almost everyone expected against a quick Yellow Jacket front, and that was the main reason for the Cats' inability to keep pace. Indeed, it was Johnson's gutsy gamesmanship that gave Kentucky a puncher's chance in the fourth quarter.
Georgia last year? The numbers weren't great, but he had Kentucky in a position to finish strong and hit Jeff Badet right in the hands on a pass those two had almost perfected last year. Badet, well, you know.
Kentucky rushed for 440 yards in a loss at Neyland Stadium in 2016, but Johnson accounted for 72 of those and his early game long sprint down the field helped set a tone that kept Kentucky in it when the defense couldn't slow the Vols down at all. His read option decisions were impeccable for much of that game.
Florida this year? That one hurts almost any Kentucky fan in a bad way, even more since Florida showed its true self in later weeks, but Johnson threw for three touchdowns and zero picks against a then-respected Gator secondary, and on just 25 attempts no less.
Against Ole Miss in a 37-34 loss Johnson didn't create many big passing plays but he was 19/24 in one of his more accurate performances as a Kentucky player. He led the team on a long touchdown drive in the fourth quarter after the offense sputtered (and only two of the throws during that stretch were really poor), and gave the team a chance to win.
There have been lopsided losses against Alabama (2016), Mississippi State and Georgia (2017), but no fair person would lay the blame for those games at Johnson's feet.
That's not to say he's been perfect. There have been struggles. His accuracy was less than ideal in 2016. He's missed receivers this year. But he's never been the reason Kentucky has lost one single game. If you disagree and try to make the case otherwise, you might find it difficult.
7. But how many games has he won? ...And the compelling counterpoint to that.
One could counter, "But how many games did Johnson go out and win, with his arm or otherwise, for Kentucky?" True, this isn't a program known for the forward pass in the most recent part of the 21st century. Yes, at times he's sprinted out wide or off the field as a running back has taken a snap from the Wildcat formation. And indeed, plenty of perfectly sane fans, Johnson fans, Johnson haters or converts to his cause, have pointed out that the conservative approach to offense might be in part because of his arm talent, which is obviously SEC caliber but not on the level of a Woodson, Jared Lorenzen or Tim Couch.
All that's true, but as Mark Stoops has said time and again, all Johnson has done is put Kentucky in a position to win games. I can't find one loss I'd lay at his feet. There aren't many wins I would give him exclusive rights to, either, but when you win 14 games in less than two years as Kentucky's starting quarterback, down SEC East or not, disputes over his accuracy, any series of reads or his passing touchdown total really fades into irrelevance.
And he did win a game. Not single handedly, but as the leading act. Against Lamar Jackson, the Heisman Trophy winner. That would be the highlight of a great many college quarterbacks' careers.
8. We know who Stephen Johnson is and all the cliches are true this time.
By now, we know who Stephen Johnson is. It's cliche. It's been said a million times. But it's true.
He's a winner. It's not always pretty, but football usually isn't pretty if you zero in on the skirmishes, vicious hits and mistakes taking place all over the field on every play. Johnson's a winner no matter how this season ends. To top it off, he's won more than anyone expected him to, whereas predecessors - and this isn't intended as criticism - didn't win as much as fans hoped. Juxtaposed with anyone since at least Hartline, Johnson has given Kentucky competence, poise and a clutch gene behind center for the first time in what's felt like ages.
He's an odds-defier. He's better than his recruiting ranking, he's better than what fans expected, he's better than what the stat sheet says. If you look at Kentucky's advanced statistics and S&P+ indicators in 2017, the numbers say Kentucky shouldn't be 7-4. It says they should be significantly worse. There are several reasons they are 7-4, but for my money the number one reason has been Johnson's penchant for big plays at big times. Not so much game management, as is often used as a pejorative, but more as a player with an instinctual knack for how to move the ball just enough in pivotal moments of a game. Keeping a read and juking a defender to the sideline to move the chains on 3rd and medium. Hitting an inside receiver in stride to set up a clutch Austin MacGinnis field goal after the opponent has tied the game. Or just calming a team down when snaps are flying over his and Benny Snell's heads and no one else looks like they know what they're doing.
He's fearless. Everyone knows that by now. There are times when Johnson is quick to slide, sometimes before he reaches the first down marker. I can recall several instances of that happening and wondering, "Why'd he do that?" But I never remember it costing Kentucky a game, and in most cases, when the game has actually been on the line, Johnson's muscle memory and that unquantifiable leadership trait has commanded him, as if he doesn't have a choice, to sacrifice his body on the altar of the football gods and monstrous SEC defensive demons, with no regard for what might come except the final score. And he keeps getting up. I can't tell you how many times people close to the program in different capacities have mentioned, "Stephen's banged up," or, "He's hurting." And not one time has it ever kept him from putting forth less than maximum effort.
9. Johnson has made me look like (or shown me to be) foolish in the self-certainty of my assumptions, which were sometimes lazy and and barely examined...But at the same time, he still surprises me.
When Johnson arrived at Kentucky as a two-star, little-known JUCO journeyman perhaps only Darin Hinshaw and a handful of others in the UK football offices believed in him. Maybe nobody else knew much of anything about him. He hadn't stayed in any one place long enough to make any ripple bigger than a Hudl highlight reel that landed him an improbable SEC offer when the Cats were in a pinch. Those close to him would tell me that he was 185 pounds, when it's pretty clear he was more like 168. There was no way, I thought, that a beanpole like that could ever last as an SEC quarterback, especially as a so-called dual-threat behind an offensive line that hadn't meshed under Stoops yet.
While we know who Johnson is, why he's loved and why he works, there's also this: I'm consistently surprised that Johnson is as successful as he has been. That's on me. It's probably on a lot of us. I consistently underestimate him. I see the three straight incompletions and become convinced, again, that the offense can't hit its stride unless he gets an arm transplant and a different rhrowing motion. And almost invariably he has made me feel like a fool. Not by dropping dimes, threading the needle or lighting up a defense, but by just finding a way.
To really appreciate Stephen Johnson, maybe we can say that he is everything that Kentucky football was not before he showed up.
He finishes. Kentucky football didn't finish.
He's fearless. Kentucky football, before Johnson, was anything but fearless when adversity hit.
He's not the only locker room leader who changed the culture to tip the scales from 5-7 and 5-7 to 7-5 and 7-4 (that might not seem like a lot, but for any UK fan who lived through those last six or so games of those 5-7 campaigns, the difference in team character in finishing a season is a lot). There are others. But he's the face, and he's the reason more than anyone else.
He has raised expectations, to the point where 7-4 is viewed in the light of "woulda, coulda, shoulda." Before Johnson, the expectation, per se, had deteriorated to the point that even the good times seemed hollow, superficial and fool's gold.
He stands in many ways as a stark reminder that it's not always about "narrowing the talent gap" with more high three and four star recruits. That does have to happen and I doubt I'll ever stop saying that. But he's a good reminder to me that every "commitment" is worth a closer look, whether they come with hype or without it, and that while "the system" as a whole paints a pretty compelling story, there will always be people, and a lot of them, who buck the trend, upend our assumptions and remind us that you cannot measure some things inside a person. Oftentimes those platitudes sound more like a pep talk for someone who lacks the talent to ever really be successful on the field. But in Johnson's case, those platitudes are entirely true.
A moment of greater candor now. When Johnson committed to Kentucky in mid-January of 2016, I wasn't surprised. I was fortunate to be in contact with several people involved in that recruitment on Johnson's end and they kept me up to speed on what was happening. I heard, from those supporters very close to Johnson, that Kentucky had landed a game-changer. I also wasn't surprised when those spin-masters, as any good inner-circle person is, said other schools had slept on Johnson, how his talent had been hidden and he had the misfortune to that point of never finding the perfect situation. And I heard that now that he had that opportunity at Kentucky, this unknown guy from Grambling and junior college would make the Wildcats' quarterback woes, second half of the schedule collapses and lack of an identity a distant memory.
I scoffed when I heard all that. When I realized that Johnson was about 20 pounds less than advertised, I should admit there might have been a smug certainty that my initial skepticism had been confirmed. "This was just the best they could do at the very last minute after two transfers completely decimated the depth chart," I thought. And I thought it often and with conviction. I all but wrote him off as an afterthought, a crisis option only, with the main story being Drew Barker finally getting his own team and Gunnar Hoak enrolling early to show his stuff.
That vivid memory of my conviction and how wrong it was is a helpful reminder that I should never become too enamored with my opinions, and maybe I shouldn't have so many opinions when there's so much uncertainty in the first place. It's a reminder that you just never really know, even when you think you do. Sometimes when you know, that's when you really don't know at all. Having closed my mind to the possibility of a Johnson era in Lexington, I spent the better part of an entire offseason writing about every possibility that could have materialized except the one that did.
10. Stephen Johnson is the most important Kentucky football player since Randall Cobb, and he saved Mark Stoops' job.
Never in a million years could I have imagined myself saying that when he signed with Kentucky. But it's true.
Some fans might look at 7-6 and 7-4 and crave more. More can come, but only because Johnson took hold of a sinking ship and provided the constancy to resurrect a program and frankly a coaching tenure left for dead. There was no flash of light; no immediate realization that this was Stoops' savior or the program's new face. He beat New Mexico State and if that hadn't happened there would have been a mutiny. He beat South Carolina, but it was anything but pretty. The lesson here is that sometimes it's hard to see a good thing unless you look really hard and stay open to the possibility that the instinct in you that wants to complain or find fault is just wrong.
I can only point to the Louisville game (perhaps the NMSU game in '16) as a game that Kentucky won mostly because of Stephen Johnson. But without Johnson, there are a lot of other games they probably wouldn't have won. Who else can you say that about between Cobb and the Cats' senior quarterback?
