Octavius Oxendine (Vicky Graff Photo)
Octavius Oxendine might not be a marquee name but the senior defensive lineman certainly made some marquee plays in Kentucky’s 20-17 win at No. 6 Ole Miss on Saturday.
He had three tackles but two were tackles for loss/quarterback sacks. He also had another quarterback hurry and was a consistent force in the defensive front that enabled UK to rotate productive players to help against Ole Miss’ fast-tempo offense.
Here is what he had to say after the game:
On pulling out a win after coming so close to beating Georgia:
Oxendine: “It just feels like a blessing, honestly. Coach just preached to us all week about being persistent and the consistency in our team. We know how to play, we play hard all the time, it’s just about going out there and putting it on film.”
On if he felt it was the game they would finally push through:
Oxendine: “We honestly had a lot of confidence going into the game. Like I just said, it was about the persistent part. We knew we could play with this team that we had to face today, it was just about us going out and doing our part.”
On the defensive performance:
Oxendine: “I feel like it’s something that coach [Brad] White always preaches every week. He always says ‘win it at the line of scrimmage’ and he always tells the defensive line we’ve got to win that battle in the trenches. So, I feel like every week we go play, you can tell we’re going to put our heart on the field as a D-line and go battle in the trenches.”
On holding Ole Miss to a field goal attempt in the fourth quarter:
Oxendine: “I feel like it just goes back to what coach [Mark] Stoops preaches to us all the time, that persistence and consistency. Like, yeah, that play happened but it’s football. Even if that play would’ve happened in the first quarter we would have reacted in the same type of way. It happened in the fourth, but it didn’t make us flinch.”
9 Responses
Oxendine is an unsung hero, just like all the OL players who contribute. It’s the package of the DL & LB’s which make UK a nationally recognized D.
Walker has value far beyond the stats. He demands so much attention that it gives others the chance to get a sack or QB rush, etc.
Congrats to the UK D!!!
Even the secondary dug in after that 1st long TD drive by Ole Miss.
It was great to see the Ox have, what I believe, may have been his best game ever, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The front 7 have been ready and rock solid almost every game, and the secondary has showed some improvement as well. Hopefully, the bye week will get some of the guys healed, and we can look forward to the #1 RB hitting the playing field. We have to take Vandy much more serious than we have at times in the coaching booth and on the playing field.
I agree Mike. His best game that I can remember
UK’s defense was very impressive for most of the game. They cause Hart to put a lot of mileage on his shoes because they were coming.
The most glaring improvement that needs to come from this game is fixing the 3rd and long and 4th down defense. That 42 yard pass play near the almost cost UK the game. Stoops has been talking about fixing that for years now, but they always go back to the same coverage scheme. Change the scheme, change something. Every team in the country seems to know exactly how UK is going to defend 3rd and long. It’s not working. If UK had lost at the end, that play is what everyone would have been talking about today.
Another big positive was the one-on-one tackling almost the entire game. We have not seen a lot of that during Stoops tenure.
You got that right Mike. The tackling was awesome
Good point Mike
I remember it was against LSU that I oxendine played very well them got hurt. He has games like this were he looks like one of the best defensive players on the team. I’m happy for him he deserves it. Weaver now has 19.5 sacks I think he gets close to Josh Aliens record but unless he has a 3 sacks game I don’t seem hum getting 12 more sacks. I think he finishes a close second. Allen did it in 3 years. We have the best defense we’ve had under Stoops. I think we just came on unprepared against South Carolina but that is a distant memory now. I’m just happy we finally won a big game. I think we will continue to get better every game. This is Brocks first year starting and when they give him time he’s very accurate. The line looked night and day better. If they continue to get better anything is possible this year. I think we knock off either Texas or Tennessee. If we get better we can go 9-3. Depending on how many wins and losses everyone has will determine the playoff. Its about time we beat Tennessee so I think we will win this year. They won’t score a bunch of points on us and we will keep it close.
If we can get Ox playing his best with more consistency, he will be even more significant contributor to one of SEC’s best OL’s. That will also be a blessing.