When Eddie Gran and Darin Hinshaw were first hired at Kentucky last offseason, their first task at hand was to find a backup quarterback to replace Patrick Towles and Reese Phillips, the former 2nd and 3rd string QBs who decided to transfer out of the program.
It was extremely late in the recruiting process, with most top-tier prospects already committed to other programs, so options were extremely limited. Rumors began spreading that they had honed in on a three-star guy named Stephen Johnson out of the College of the Desert in the JUCO ranks, best known for his running ability and his poise under pressure.