Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White says his unit is motivated after getting humbled by Tennessee. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Despite giving up 56 points to Tennessee in last week’s loss, Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White still believes his unit will respond in a big way Saturday night at Auburn.
“I know what these guys are made of character-wise. I can’t promise what the result is going to be but I do know that they’re going to fight and I know they’re a resilient group, so I’m excited to see what they put on the field. They pour a lot into this,” White said after Wednesday’s practice.
Tennessee shredded UK’s pass defense most of the game and had no problem hitting explosive plays. Auburn does not have the same big-play offense.
“You’ve just got to look at what happened and why did it happen and how do we perform better? You’ve seen that before earlier in the year with quick game turning into explosive plays. Kind of had some games where that got cleaned up, and then this one where they’re just running by us,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said about the pass defense breakdowns.
“We just got to get back to how we play, make sure we’re playing effectively. You got to look at things schematically. We are injured at that position. And so, can we do the things we’re asking them to do? And, look at some things that way, that could help them as well.”
Stoops knows Auburn will want to run the football and has a “big, physical” team.
“When you see (Jeremiah) Cobb run and the O-Line, they’re very physical and he breaks a lot of tackles and is very talented. He has great vision, he has great balance, he has great strength and so he can run through some tackles,” Stoops said. “I don’t want to be sitting here next week talking about tackling. He’s very talented. He makes a lot of people miss.”
White said SEC play “has a way to humble you” and Kentucky certainly got humbled by Tennessee after playing well defensively against Texas a week earlier.
“We understand the challenge we’re facing and that we’ve faced tough challenges in the past and that we’ve elevated and met those challenges, like the Texas game,” White said. “You’ve got to show up each week. Our strengths need to show out for us and we need to minimize our weaknesses.”
White believes what happened last week will motivate the UK defense against Auburn. White said the players had to “get that taste out of our mouth” after giving up 56 points to the Vols.
“That’s the thing right now I think motivates me, I think motivates a lot of guys, the other coaches, the guys in that locker room defensively, that we have an opportunity, within seven days, to try to wipe away that feeling and that game. That’s exciting,” White said.
3 Responses
The downfall of this team is injuries. You can't win SEC games when both of your starting and backup corners are hurt. Our best offensive weapon is also hurt. McGowan. I'm not saying we would have won if we had MCGowan against Tennessee but I do think the game would have been a little closer. Dowdell is terrible. Patterson is a year away from being ready. Without McGowan we become one dimensional. We need both the pass and the run. The only way we beat Auburn is if the defense creates at least 2-3 turnovers. If we can't make them turn it over they will beat us. I still think we play our first complete game against Auburn. Kentucky wins and Freeze gets fired. If we can win against Auburn the season isnt over yet. Every game left is winnable. Louisville and Vanderbilt are the hardest two games left. Who would have ever guessed both would be ranked. I still think a bowl game is possible.
If we can't beat Auburn Louisville and Vandy are a non-starter.
There are 5 SEC teams that have adjusted defensive efficiencies under 1 point per possession, and Auburn is one of those great defenses. In comparision, UK's defense is over twice Auburn's efficiency.
On the offensive side, Auburn's offense is slightly below the SEC average adjusted offensive efficiency (3.34 ppp) but UK's offense has been under 3 ppp.
UK 15
Aub 34
Comments are closed.