The Kentucky Wildcats won’t hold their annual Blue & White spring game this year as Commonwealth Stadium is renovated for the fall, so instead they held an open practice on Saturday for fans to check out the team before the spring season ends Wednesday.

Among the players who made headlines Saturday were middle linebacker Josh Forrest, who hauled in two interceptions during an intrasquad scrimmage, and incumbent starting quarterback Patrick Towles, who reportedly looked as sharp as he has all spring.

“I challenged our team to really have a good week this week and make some progress and grow as a team and as a program,” head coach Mark Stoops told the Lexington Herald-Leader. “I felt like it was the most consistent week we’ve had in awhile with all the things we’re doing: the practices, what we’re doing off the field, just with the accountability and dependability of our guys, whether it be academically and taking care of their business. I felt like we had a good week.

“The scrimmage today, overall was pleased,” the head coach continued. “Obviously it’s not always pretty. We’re a little watered down. I wish we could get it more at full strength at certain positions, but you still see the progress. I thought offensively they moved the ball some, and defensively came up with some stops and big plays at times. But I still like the direction where we’re headed. I like the balance of our offense.”

Stoops got more in-depth regarding his quarterback competition, specifically Towles’ play on Saturday, during his post-practice media availability. He commented on the arm strength and touch Towles showed on his deep throws during the scrimmage, but wouldn’t say the returning starter has separated himself from redshirt freshman Drew Barker, the only other scholarship quarterback on the roster.

“It was good to see (Towles) throw (deep balls),” Stoops said. “I was standing directly behind him when he threw the one to Blake (Bone), and I thought Blake did a nice job of adjusting and running underneath that one and coming down with the catch. That’s what a quarterback needs: for the receivers to come down with some big plays for him. So, I thought that was well executed. Again, we’re getting better.”

Stoops, a defensive-minded coach, also spoke of Forrest, who he said showed flaws as a run-stopper in the middle despite his pair of picks in pass coverage.

“You’ve heard me talk about it a lot: (Forrest) is very good at pass coverage. You probably heard us yelling at him a few times in the run game. Probably heard (defensive coordinator D.J.) Eliot more than me. We need to be more consistent there. … He had a few missed tackles in there. So that’s where he knows he needs to improve, but he has great range and he’s very good in space and can make some big plays in the pass game. We’ve just got to be more consistent.”

However, to be fair, Stoops was not singling out Forrest, even though he was responding to a question that cited Forrest in particular. “That’s a lot of guys,” Stoops said regarding seeking more consistency.

Tailbacks Jojo Kemp (illness) and Mikel Horton (ankle sprain) were held out of Saturday’s action, allowing sophomore Boom Williams an opportunity to handle plenty of carries for the home fans.

One element missing from UK’s offense last season that the coaches hope to remedy in 2015 is an effective pass-catching threat at the tight end position. The Cats signed four-star Ohio prospect C.J. Conrad in the last recruiting cycle, and he enrolled in school early to get up to speed during spring practice in anticipation of a large role as a freshman.

Stoops spoke very highly of his new tight end after Saturday’s scrimmage.

“You guys saw it today, have heard people talk about it this spring that he’s a guy that the sky’s the limit for him,” Stoops said of Conrad. “He’s a great kid; he works extremely hard. He does everything right on the field, off the field and he’s a great student. He made some big plays today and he’s going to be a guy who plays an awful lot of snaps for us.”

Another fan favorite in Lexington is 330-pound fullback/defensive lineman Jacob Hyde, who played both positions on Saturday.

However, even fatigue couldn’t stop the monstrous fullback from punishing a few of his teammates during the scrimmage.

And before wrapping up his media availability, Stoops spoke to how important it was for his kids to play with the pressure of fans watching live and in person, and how that added energy to Saturday’s practice.

“I think I need to open it up all the time so we can have great energy,” Stoops said. “But really we had a good week. I was pleased. Yesterday we had to go in shorts as I mentioned but I felt like the guys were really focused and had good energy. We had a good, solid week and that’s something to build on. That’s what we need to do, that’s the consistency we need to have to grow as a program.”