Freshman Deone Walker (0) had three tackles and played 49 snaps at Ole Miss. (Vicky Graff Photo)
If you look back at the Kentucky-Mississippi statistics, you will notice that defensive lineman Justin Rogers did not have a single tackle.
Yet the highly-ranked prospect from Michigan certainly impressed UK coach Mark Stoops in the 22-19 loss.
“I thought Justin played one of his better games that he’s played here. He played a lot of snaps and that kind of tempo is always concerning going into the game, because as I mentioned last week, just the tempo, getting the rhythm and getting the D-Linemen, getting their cleats in the ground, and then, getting their proper reads and keys,” Stoops said.
“We weren’t perfect on that by any stretch, but I thought Justin really did some good things.”
True freshman defensive lineman Deone Walker played a season-high 49 snaps. He had two solo tackles and one assist along with one quarterback hurry.
“To see him at that tempo for the first time on the road with a high tempo team, I thought he did some good things,” Stoops said about
Linebacker D’Eryk Jackson also got extended playing time because of injuries to UK’s starters. He had three solo stops, including a tackle for loss. He also had a pass breakup and likely will play a lot against South Carolina Saturday night.
“D-Jack, we have a lot of confidence in him. I thought there were parts of this game that we didn’t play as good as we are capable of. I said that going into it that was a big key was the deception, and with that formation, motion, split zone, all of the fits can be a lot when it’s going fast and I don’t think we were as clean as we have been,” Stoops said.
“Not just with him but with a lot of the guys, a play here, a play there with each of the guys.”
Kentucky will face more of a passing attack against South Carolina than it did against Florida or Ole Miss. That could unleash UK’s pass rush a bit more.
“Getting them in predictable pass, getting up (ahead) will help you with getting the pass rush going. First and second down, with the structure of our defense, it’s difficult for us to create pressure unless we have some different movements, pressures and things of that nature,” Stoops said.
“The first play of the (Ole Miss) game we have an opportunity for a sack and missed it. We never leave our feet, especially with a quarterback that can elude you. So that’s just a situation where again, first play of the game I’m sure we’d like to take a seven-yard loss rather than a six-yard gain.”
