Vicky Graff Photo
The last two years Kentucky’s defense has gained a lot of respect across the Southeastern Conference and nation. Does that play a role in this year’s defensive mentality?
“There is definitely a pride piece to it. I think anybody on this team, anybody who is competitor, has that pride piece but we also knows years past are gone,” said UK defensive coordinator Brad White. “We are a different team, different pieces.
“Are we confident in our ability? We are. But every year is different and you have to face new adversity. Just because you look good on paper does not mean you will rise to those challenges.
“There’s no group I would rather go on field with but we have got to do it week in, week out. We are going to face adversity, new challenges. Every week we have got to pull together and I think we have got the guys to do it but you never know how it will play out.”
White is not a big numbers guy. He believes defensive numbers can be misleading. A team might be statistically better on defense but not make the key plays at big times.
“The only statistic that matters is that we win on Saturday. That’s all we care about as a defensive unit,” White said. “Every play is not a win for the defense.
“The thing we did well last year was limit explosive plays. How many points did you allow and how many big plays? Big plays are momentum shifts and we have to limit those and when we have the opportunity to make big plays ourself we need to make them. We need to create more big plays on defense than we did last year.”
