Defensive coordinator Brad White knows he better get UK's issues fixed quickly. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Brad White’s defense at Kentucky often bends but seldom does it break like it did Saturday night at Georgia.
The Bulldogs were the first team to score 50 or more points against UK since Alabama during the 2020 COVID season when the Cats played with a short-handed roster.
Georgia also rolled up 603 total yards, the first time a team had gone over 600 yards since Mark Stoops arrived at UK in 2013.
Kentucky surrendered 50 points for the first time since a COVID-19 breakout left it shorthanded in a 63-3 loss at Alabama in 2020. It surrendered 600 yards of offense for the first time since a 59-17 loss in Stoops’ first season in 2013.
“We got whipped,” White said after the game.
White didn’t offer any excuses and said UK expected Georgia to go pass-heavy like it did to open the game and shred the UK defense.
“We talked about it all week. We knew what kind of football team they were. They’re a really good football team and they came out with an edge and an attitude and a mentality,” White said. “We knew they were going to be aggressive, pushing the ball down the field.
“I thought the execution wasn’t great. We’d been really good all year so far with positioning on the ball, not losing leverage, head up, eyes up, tackling. Again, credit to them. I thought whoever it was, whether it was (tight end Brock) Bowers, the running backs I thought ran hard for them. I thought they played with an edge, and they got off to a quick start.”
White didn’t just blame the players. He blamed himself, too.
“As a play-caller, I couldn’t get it right either. I couldn’t put the guys to time up the perfect pressure. I was either a play early or I was a play late. Sometimes, you’re just having one of those games when you’re on and this was just one of those that nothing seemed to go right,” White said.
“I will say this, there is still no defense that I would rather coach than this group of guys. They competed to the end and we’ll go back, we’ll figure out the issues, and we’ll be ready for next week.”
Missouri is next up on Saturday night at a sold-out Kroger Field where Kentucky is a 2-point favorite. White knows UK fans are upset — and should be. He also understands players can’t let the outside noise discourage or distract them.
“I think the key for all of us to understand is that you just have to stay within the (football) facility. You’re going to get humbled really quick,” White said. “Everybody tells you how good you are, and it can be right around the corner.
“So we understand the tasks we have ahead of us. A really good Missouri offense, so we better get things fixed and play back to our standard and our level.”
One Response
The biggest disappointment on Saturday was the way UGA’s offense manhandled the UK Defense. I never quite saw that one coming.
I suppose we will also be finding out if the D against UGA was the fluke or this team has serious issues on defense that the first 5 UK opponents could not exploit the way UGA did.