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Adding LSU cornerback Kelvin Joseph to an already talented and experienced secondary at Kentucky was supposed to make the Wildcats even better than their highly-ranked pass defense was last year. Joseph was even named to the all-SEC preseason team before he played a single snap at Kentucky.
Well, after two games he’s not lived up to any of that hype or any of the hype he’s tried to create for himself with his talk.
Auburn receiver Seth Williams had six catches for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the opening game when UK lost 29-13. Both touchdown catches were against Joseph, who also had a silly 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
On Saturday against Ole Miss he got a costly pass interference call in the end zone and got burnt by Ole Miss receivers Elijah Moore and Jonathan Mingo. Late in the game Mingo beat him twice — he finished the game with eight catches for 128 yards and two scores.
Yet no one has chirped on the field more the first two weeks than Joseph, who had four tackles including one tackle for loss against Mississippi.
“He, like a lot of our players, we need to play better and more consistent. I thought he did good things a week ago. Tonight just watching it out there, they were so extremely fast. I know there were some plays that stand out in my mind right now that he needs to do a better job of,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said.
“We don’t have time to get into it with chattering. These opponents, especially with teams that go so fast, you’ve got to focus in on your job and taking care of your business, and I’ve got to do a better job of coaching our team on that.”
And Joseph has to do a whole lot better job overall than what he has the first two games.
