If the honeymoon is not over, the sun is setting for Mark Stoops’ first phase of his tenure at Kentucky.

A fourth-straight loss in SEC play, 27-3 to a struggling Georgia team, has some fans wondering about when they’ll see the fruits from the program’s well-documented recruiting successes. The other question being tossed around by armchair and barstool quarterbacks is if benching QB Patrick Towles could help the offense.

Stoops is trying to improve on his 11-22 record at Kentucky, including 4-19 in the SEC. The latest loss was the third straight game where the Wildcats  (4-5, 2-5 SEC) did not make it competitive.

Stoops admitted that Towles’ starting job may be in jeopardy, and at the very least is not as secure as it was a month ago.

“You know I always say that about all positions,” Stoops said in his post-game press conference. “You’ve seen us change the depth chart at a lot of positions all the way through the season on who is playing well, and I think it’s fair to say that we have to look at the quarterback position.”

Stoops’ admission came after the Wildcats accounted for 101 passing yards as Towles was 8-for-21 for 96 yards and two interceptions that brought his season total to 12 with seven touchdowns.

Towles told reporters he would understand if a change is made.

“I can’t say I blame them,” Towles said. “I want to win football games, and if I’m not getting it done we need to play somebody else.”

Quarterback Drew Barker, who made his second career appearance on Saturday, is the possible replacement against Vanderbilt with a victory crucial to the Wildcats’ bowl chances.

Barker lost a spring and summer competition after Towles started all 12 games last year. The competition came after Barker redshirted last year, and Kentucky brought in offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson after Neal Brown left to be the head coach at Troy.

Barker, who has thrown 11 passes in his career, is a 6-foot-3, 216-pound former four-star recruit who was rated the No. 5 pro-style quarterback prospect in the country by Rivals.com last year. He threw for 6,264 yards and rushed for 3,931 yards in high school.

Towles’ numbers are fading in the second half of the season for the second straight year. Against Eastern Kentucky and Auburn, Towles had 329 and 359 passing yards, respectively. But against Tennessee and Georgia, he has 184 and 96.

Last year, Towles had at least 390 total yards in three games, but averaged just 184.7 total yards over the final four.