When Quinton Bohanna committed to Kentucky as a three-star high school recruit he wasn't exactly considered a reach. He seemed to have the size, athleticism and certainly the stats to be an SEC caliber player.

Then again, nobody probably imagined that Bohanna would see as much playing time as a true freshman nose guard in the SEC as he has earned over time.

As Bohanna's playing time has increased, senior Matt Elam's playing opportunities seem to be waning.

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Elam came out as the starter at the nose against Mississippi State, but he dropped down to the third string spot on this week's depth chart. Bohanna is now number two at the nose behind senior Naquez Pringle and the coaching staff seems bullish on what the future holds for him.

"He's actually done a really good job. Very coachable kid. Very athletic kid. Is he there yet? No, he's a young guy," Derrick LeBlanc told reporters like Cats Illustrated's Warren Taylor after practice on Wednesday. "But very promising for Q and we're looking for big things from him the next couple of games."

Kentucky's coaches have never said they are looking for a certain amount of production from the nose guard position. Earlier this year in one game the Cats notched seven tackles from players at the position, prompting Mark Stoops to speculate on his call-in show that it might have been the most production they had ever gotten from that spot in a single game.

But that was an isolated occurrence.

While there isn't any one player racking up stats, and while the nose position in general isn't producing huge numbers, LeBlanc is optimistic about that spot over the last few games of the schedule.

"I think if you've noticed we've done a good job of rotating guys to get guys, keep guys fresh. That's a tough spot. Playing the nose in our defense, that's a very difficult position to play," he said.

There's a steep learning curve in the SEC and while LeBlanc says Bohanna will be learning "'til he walks out the doors," he's encouraged because the freshman from Cordova, Tenn., has proven to be coachable.

"He's 'yes sir, no sir. What am I doing wrong?'" LeBlanc said.

The defensive line will need to be much better against Tennessee than they were against Mississippi State, even with Vols' starting and star running back John Kelly suspended after a drug-related incident this week. The Bulldogs racked up close to 300 rushing yards against the Wildcats, causing that rush defense ranking, which had been so high nationally, to take a tumble.

"We didn't execute very well," defensive coordinator Matt House told reporters on Wednesday. "We lost at the line of scrimmage."

House said it's paramount for players in the trenches to win one on one battles. While Mark Stoops was emphasizing the number of 50/50 balls the secondary had lost -- all 10 of them, he pointed out -- House didn't let the linemen off the hook. That's why Bohanna's play will be crucial over these next five weeks as Kentucky tries to put together one of its best regular seasons in recent memory."