Kentucky's defense hopes it can celebrate stops against Ole Miss. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White knows that he and his unit have a big challenge in front of them at fifth-ranked Ole Miss, and the Rebels’ offense has been potent, to say the least, through four games.
Ole Miss averages 55 points and 670 yards per game. They lead the nation in both of those categories. White knows that the Cats will need to carry over their solid play from recent games as they face Ole Miss.
“It’s just another challenge, it’s another week. We’re going to have a lot of these throughout the year,” White said. “The goal is focus, execution, all the way through practice, in the meeting rooms, take it out, unwavering effort and take it series by series. We did that against Georgia, I thought we did a nice job carrying that over last week against Ohio. We need to continue to do that.
“I think the guys understand the challenge. When it’s 670 yards a game, 55 points, 420 in the air, 250 on the ground. They’ve got weapons all over the place, they’ve got a big offensive line, a quarterback that’s playing at a really, really elite level. We know we’ve got to be at our best.”
This will also be Kentucky’s first road game of the year, and it comes with an early kickoff. Those are both things that the Cats must account for in their preparation.
“It’s going to be a tough environment. We were down there two years ago, we understand,” White said. “You get up, it’s 11 o’clock central time, you’ve got to get geared up and ready to rock and roll.”
Ole Miss plays at a very high tempo, which is something that the Cats have not seen yet this season. White knows that it’s hard to replicate just how quickly the Rebels go.
“It’s impossible to simulate it. You just try to do the best you can to try to get as many quality reps in as you can,” White said. “But it’s hard for anybody in the country to simulate what they do and especially at the efficiency they do it at. They’ve got eight seniors, two juniors, guys who have been in the system for a long time. They know how to operate. And to add the pace on top of it is why they are so effective and efficient.”
How can the Cats best combat the Rebels’ attack?
“Obviously, the hope is that not every drive is a long, extended drive. You also don’t want it to be a quick score, either,” White said. “You want to be able to get off the field on a couple of drives as quick as you can.
“The one thing I tell the defense all the time is, even if they go on a 10-play drive, it may only be two minutes and 30 seconds, so you can do anything for two minutes and 30 seconds full speed. You may need the next series off, but you’ve got to rock and roll. Unless they sub personnel, you better get up, get your eyes to the side, get our call, try to see the formation and roll from there.”
5 Responses
The DL & most of the LBs will be ready & alert. They somehow avoid being lulled to sleep by the pre-game deflating anti-pep talk.
Ole Miss will riddle UK with their passing game.
Maybe the OL will study how to block for a passing QB by reading on-line since the coaches don’t know how to develop them. Then Brock & the TE’s and Key could roll up some points to try to make a game of it
Does UK have tight ends on the team or are they in witness protection? You do hear some chatter every now and then.
Awesome explanation! 😊
The only way we have a chance is if it rains. We need to run the ball down there throat and play lights out on defense and we can win. I doubt both of them things happen at once. Chip not playing a fifth game hurts. This is his last year and he will only end up playing about 7 or 8 games at most. What a waste of reps. He took all the first team reps too. I would start Gavin. Catch them off balance and run all kinds of motions and keep the defense guessing on who is going to run the football. He would draw the defense in then make short passes towards the sideline. Run some play actions and some screen passes. Kentucky has a really good team. We just have bad coaching. Barion Brown hasnt improved at all at wide receiver. Dane Key is by far the best receiver on the team. Maclin looks scared to death out there. Instead of trying to make plays he dashes to the sidelines every time. They shouldnt have him on punt return. They should have Brown Stephens on punt return. We have good tight ends. We never call plays for the tight end. Brock will be much better as the season goes on. Hes only started 4 games. I think if we lose this game we should try to get the younger guys as many reps as we can. This season will be pretty much over if we lose. Not really but the next thing to hope for will be to just make bowl and thats no fun. We do have 8 years in a row making a bowl game on the line. If Stoops drops the ball on that record then he just be ran off. That record is the only thing he has going for him at this moment. We could be very good next year if so many players wasnt already thinking about the NFL before they even do anything great in college. Word was the Hairston, Brown, Key, Walker, and Brock V were all thinking about not coming back for there senior year because they did all they could do in college. lol. Thats a joke. Actually Walker is having a average year and Brown and Brock V should not even be thinking about the NFL yet. They need to do alot better if they want to even make it to the NFL Brown would probably get drafted because of his speed but he would never get playing time at receiver and kickoffs in the NFL dont mean as much as college. If all the players listed above came back for a senior year we could have a special season next year. We are losing alot of players on defense and the o line but the o line needs to hit the refresh button anyway. If the players listed above came back we would have a exciting offense next year. Our defense would be stout too.
They may be looking at the NFL being able to develop them more than Stoops evidently can. Also, they should have better coaching and better players around them; if they are selected by the right team.
As far as next year, what makes you think the ones you mentioned would do any better next year than this year? It will most likely be the same coaching staff and they can’t do much with them now.
I have been a big supporter of Stoops all along, but I am growing weary of his inability to put a decent offense on the field. He recruits players a passing game, then can’t get the OL to block for a passing game. He doesn’t like to take any kind of a chance and has no idea how to use a TE, except for blocking because they can’t teach the OL to block.
I am not sure I believe Stoops when he says he doesn’t hogtie the offense. We seem to have a lot of the same issues every year and he is the only common denominator.