Octavious Oxendine signed autographs for young fans after UK's open practice. (Vicky Graff Photo)
One name to remember going into next football season for Kentucky is senior defensive tackle Octavious Oxendine, the former North Hardin standout.
He made a big impact in the 2021 season as a sophomore when he had 15 tackles, including 3.5 tackles for loss, in UK’s first six games. He was a defensive demon and was projected as a future Southeastern Conference star. However, he suffered a season-ending knee injury against LSU when he had two quarterback sacks and was named SEC Defensive player of the Week.
That injury ended his 2021 season — the same year that Kentucky won 10 games.
Kentucky coaches decided if Oxendine lost weight — he weighed 318 pounds in 2021 — it would make him faster and even a bigger nemesis on defense for opposing offense. He dropped 37 pounds but had just 22 tackles in 13 games and seems to get pushed around a lot by bigger offensive linemen in the 2022 season. Now Oxendine is trying to put on weight again before the 2023 season starts without losing any of the speed he had when he weighed less.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops wants Oxendine to have a big “bounce back year” and is being counted on to be a leader and playmaker with his experience.
“It plays a big part of the big part of playing in the SEC, so it’s definitely something I need to get back to,” Oxendine said about adding weight before next season.
“It was fun playing at that weight, just being quicker and lighter on my feet. But I feel like putting the weight back will let me be more of an asset in the run game.”
