LITTLE ROCK — A week before Western Kentucky reported for fall camp, Coach Willie Taggart uttered a bold expectation for senior quarterback Kawaun Jakes to members of the media.
Taggart said he expected Jakes, who had completed a little more than half of his career passes, to raise that statistic to roughly 65 percent.
Jakes has exceeded expectations going into Saturday’s game at Arkansas State (2-2). The quarterback has completed 70.2 percent of his passes and is on track to set season highs for completions, passing yards and touchdowns.
Last week he threw for 172 yards and 3 touchdowns on 12-of-18 passing in a 42-17 victory against Southern Mississippi. That came on the heels of a steady outing in an overtime upset of Kentucky and four touchdown passes in a season-opening victory over Austin Peay.
His worst day?
A 20-of-31 performance for 178 yards with an interception at top-ranked Alabama.
The numbers aren’t overwhelming, but Taggart said he doesn’t mind.
“He’s running our offense like we need him to,” Taggart said. “We always felt that if we can complete balls at a high percentage, this offense can be effective, especially with some of the things we want to do this year.”
Jakes, who has 806 yards passing and 8 touchdowns to go along with a conferenceleading 163.9 passer rating, quickly cemented his reputation with ASU Coach Gus Malzahn.
“I’m new to him,” Malzahn said. “All I know is this year he’s throwing the ball well and he’s got a lot of weapons around him.”
Taggart’s version of the West Coast offense, imported three seasons ago from his time as running backs coach at Stanford, is built around vanishing elements in college football.
It’s a run-first scheme, with Jakes handing the ball off 62 percent of the time. The Hilltoppers (3-1) utilize a traditional fullback, at least six men on the line of scrimmage and are play-action heavy in the passing game.
Western Kentucky’s leading receiver is running back Antonio Andrews with 17 catches 221 yards, followed by tight end Jack Doyle with 19 receptions for 184 yards.
“All offenses want to stay ahead of the chains,” Hilltoppers quarterbacks coach Nick Sheridan said. “In our offense, we need those completions. It’s not always going to be vertical on a 15-yard corner route. It might just be the 2- or 3-yard flat route.”
ASU defensive coordinator John Thompson affectionately called the Hilltoppers’ system “true old-school football,” and said he understands the threat Jakes’ arm possesses.
“You’ve got a tight end that can catch the ball and checkdowns that are very effective,” Thompson said. “That’s a pretty simple throw, and they’re very efficient. They don’t ask him to make a lot of tough throws, because really he doesn’t have to.”
Western Kentucky coaches said Jakes’ start isn’t the result of an offseason tear down of his mechanics, duct-taping him to a chair for hours of film review or running receivers ragged in offseason passing drills. Jakes’ dedication to his craft increased, but Taggart and Sheridan said “holding his teammates accountable” for their roles in the passing game looms larger.
“His decision-making has improved, and his understanding of what we’re trying to do and what the defense wants to take away is better,” Sheridan said. “That’s just part of the maturation process.”
Thompson said the best way to test Jakes’ improvement is simple.
“We’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback and hit him,” Thompson said. “Hit him and see what happens after that.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/28/2012