Kentucky defense not letting strong start go to its head
Three weeks into the college football season -- or just one quarter into the "game" to hear Kentucky's Brad White describe it -- defense is a big reason why the Wildcats have ascended to No. 8 in the AP Top 25 Poll.
Kentucky ranks No. 12 nationally in scoring defense at a stingy 9.0 points per game, No. 14 in total defense at a formidable 253.7 yards per game, and No. 4 in opponent third-down conversion rate at a downright miserly 17.5%
The Cats pitched their first shutout of the Mark Stoops era last week against Youngstown State, the program's first since the 2009 season. It marked six straight quarters of scoreless defense going back to blanking No. 12 Florida in the second half of a 26-16 win at The Swamp.
After Wednesday's practice at the Joe Craft Football Training Center, the UK defensive coordinator said his unit can't get caught resting on its laurels.
"We got a lot to fix," White said. "We're a long way from great. We've had a couple of solid games at this point, but it's one quarter of the season, and the season is no different than a game. That's how we equate it. You can play one good quarter, but you've got three quarters left."
Some of that is coachspeak, of course, but White also knows a crucial stretch of October games are approaching with SEC matchups against Ole Miss, South Carolina, Mississippi State, and Tennessee that will go a long way toward determining if UK is still among the nation's top-ranked teams in the third quarter of the season.
Keeping a level head and cleaning up the handful of mistakes that have occurred during the impressive start is the focus this week at practice.
"That can only affect us if we allow it to," UK senior cornerback Keidron Smith said of the praise being heaped on his unit. "We're going to let the fans do all the talking, but when we come out here, that goes out the window. We've got a job to do."
"There's been some explosive plays that have gotten out," White said. "We need to be able to limit those. That's something that we take pride in. The screen that got out (in the Youngstown State game) ... I understand it's football, and those plays are going to happen, but we do not just brush it off and say, 'They just happen.' We take those personal."
To its credit, the UK defense rose up and intercepted a YSU pass into the end zone after the 64-yard screen pass by the Penguins in the third quarter which helped preserve the shutout.
The freshmen playing a key role on this year's defense -- players like defensive tackle Deone Walker, nickel/outside linebacker Alex Afari, and outside linebacker Keaten Wade -- say they felt motivated to keep a zero on the YSU side of the scoreboard due to the strong veteran leadership on the team.
"We took a lot of pride in that," said Afari, who led the team in tackles after stepping in for injured strongside linebacker J.J. Weaver. "They haven't had that in a while here, so it meant a lot to the seniors. Meant a lot to (DeAndre) Square, all those seniors... We kept talking about it on the sideline; we can't let 'em score."
Asked how you improve on a shutout, Wade said: "Get another shutout, I guess. Gotta keep it rolling."
In addition to limiting explosive plays, White said he'd like to see the defense take the ball away a little more and to give the offense a "short field" on a more consistent basis. The Cats also have modest numbers in sacks (6.0, 65th national rank) and tackles for loss (12, 105th).
No matter how they get it done, there is one primary goal.
"Our job is to get the ball back and put it in No. 7's hands," Smith said of Will Levis, who threw for 377 yards last week and is off to a strong start as one of the nation's top quarterback prospects going into the season.