Kentucky Football: Drew Barker Ruled Out For Foreseeable Future

The Kentucky football program will be without its starting quarterback for the foreseeable future. Find out how long Drew Barker will be out for.

The Kentucky football program has a quarterback controversy. Drew Barker showed out during Week 1 of the 2016 college football season, Stephen Johnson dominated Week 3, and neither has a definitive grip on the starting job.

That controversy may have been cleared up in one of the most heartbreaking ways imaginable.

Barker has been dealing with a lingering back issue that’s limited him during the 2016 season. He was forced to leave the New Mexico State Aggies game after just two throws and didn’t return to action.

According to Jon Hale of The Courier-Journal, Stoops has ruled Barker out for at least the next two weeks.

"“When I say significant, he’s out for the foreseeable future, the next two, three, four weeks,” Stoops said. “After that we’ll re-evaluate him and see where he’s at. He saw a specialist. His mother, his father, Drew, (trainer) Jim Madaleno and our doctors are all on the same page, and they believe the best treatment is rest right now and some treatment, and the best idea for him is non-operative at this point in time. If that changes, I’ll let you know. When he gets back out on the field, I’ll let you know.”"

Two weeks is an ambitious projection, which doesn’t look good for Barker.

Barker opened the season in extraordinary style. He completed 15 of his 24 pass attempts for 323 passing yards and four touchdowns against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.

He threw all four touchdowns in the first half.

Barker went cold in the second half, however, and went just 2-of-10 for 10 yards and three interceptions against the Florida Gators.

A lingering back injury would go a long way towards explaining why Barker had such a difficult time against Florida. Even if he were destined to struggle, it’s hard to imagine him playing that poorly when fully healthy.

Stoops went on to state that he won’t re-evaluate Barker for at least three weeks.

"“You don’t know how the back’s going to respond at this point,” Stoops said. “So we will re-evaluate it, but we’re certainly not going to re-evaluate it for at least three weeks or so. And so I have no idea whether he’ll be able to come back and play this year or not.”"

This could be both a blessing and a curse for Kentucky.

The promising news for Kentucky is that junior transfer Stephen Johnson was explosive in relief of Barker. He completed 17 of his 22 pass attempts for 310 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Johnson also ran the ball 10 times for 51 yards, which opened up a number of running lanes for Benny Snell Jr. and Boom Williams to attack and exploit.

Following Kentucky’s 62-42 victory over New Mexico State, Johnson appears to be in full control of the race for the starting job. Barker’s absence will give him a chance to earn the full-time status he’s seeking.

The next three weeks will feature a home game against South Carolina, a road game against Alabama, and a home game against Vanderbilt.

The good news: Kentucky will have a bye week following the Vanderbilt game before it hosts Mississippi State.

Must Read: Which players broke out against New Mexico State?

Barker could be back by then.