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Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White has been praised often for the job he’s done at UK. However, he admits everyone connected with the UK defense was “embarrassed by how we performed” in a 51-13 loss at No. 1 Georgia where the Cats gave up over 600 yards.
“But that was last Saturday and now it’s our job to step up and respond and that’s what we’ve got to do. I think no one played particularly well on Saturday (at Georgia). To a man, myself included, I don’t think anyone would say that.”
He’s right. It was UK’s worst overall defensive game in several years and certainly has to be a lot better against Missouri this Saturday night. Maybe the Tigers are not as potent as Georgia but Missouri is 5-1 and does have a high-powered offense that is averaging 33.2 points per game.
In SEC play, quarterback Brady Cook and receiver Luther Burden have helped the Tigers average 38.5 points per game.
“Quarterback is playing at a really high level. Really confident in his ball placement. He’s big, he’s athletic. I really think he’s one of the top QBs in this league and playing at a level that you can make the argument he’s as good as anybody in the country,” White said.
“Burden is playing at an extremely high level, you see by receptions, yards, what he does when the ball is in his hands. They have a lot of options to count on and that we have to account for.”
White said the UK defense got out of sync against Georgia and the individual position groups have to work together better to stop Missouri.
“We talk about it all the time – everything works together. The back end helps the front end, the front end helps the back end. And when they’re playing in unison, that’s when you’re productive. And we were not in sync in any form or fashion (at Georgia),” White said.
“Up to Saturday, they have been solid in that. They’ve helped protect each other. We have to get back to what we know, who we are. We’ve got to execute simple things and mistakes that we didn’t make in training camp, we didn’t make in spring, we made on Saturday.”
White hopes his defense will use the Georgia debacle as a “learning moment” and not lose belief that it is a special defense.
“This is a good defense. They just need to go back out and play the way they know how to play and how they’ve played in the past. It would be one thing if they had never done it and I was just speaking in wishful thinking. This is a defense that has gone and they have performed on Saturdays at a really high level,” White said.
“That’s the thing about football. It’s very humbling. You’ve got to come do it every single week. And they got humbled. And the coaching staff got humbled. And so now, it’s about shaking it off and getting back to what we know.”
4 Responses
Maybe we just aren’t that good. We never looked that good even in beating the first 5 Popcorn States…yeah, I am putting Florida in that group. Georgia was the first quality team we faced and it wasn’t pretty. Missouri and Tennessee are not as good as Georgia, but they are far better than what we played in our first 5 games. The SportsGrid writer who had Stoops as the No. 2 overpaid coach pointed out that most of Stoop’s success here has come at the expense of Popcorn States and bottom level SEC teams which has produced a 35 – 51 overall SEC record. It will only get worse with Texas and Oklahoma coming to the SEC.
Florida curb stomped Tennessee.
Barry, why don’t you step back a bit – don’t you know recruits read these sites ? Don’t contribute to negativity just to vent – unless you’re sitting there typing in red and black !
Recruiting is in the balance for sure, but Barry made some good points. I did not expect UK to beat Georgia in Athens, but I sure didn’t think they would be that unprepared to let Georgia run all over and through their defense, on the way to a 38 point beat down. That is on Stoops and his staff. I credit Coach for accepting the blame. That said,fans deserve more from a 9 million dollar a year head coach.
If Coach don’t end the season above 500, and beat UT in Lexington this year, Many fans are going to start wanting a change, just watch and see. After 11 years at the helm, and lose like that on national tv surely does not help recruiting, because some of the recruits watched that blood bath. This Tennessee string of wins must come to an end in 2023 too. That win alone this year would calm this fan base, and put Coach on good ground again. That bunch deserves a butt kicking at Kroger Field they won’t forget. Also, Louisville is not going to be a gimme game with Brohm walking the side lines with a headset on. Louisville will come out breathing fire inside Papa Johns, count on it. Can Stoops get em ready the rest of the way? I hope so. Also, If Coen don’t get his QB in gear, UK has no chance. Leary has to come out Saturday against Missouri on fire, slinging the football all over the yard. He has to pass himself out of this slump. Come on CATS arrive focused for the Tigers. They hate your guts. I believe this game will define UK’s season in many ways.