Do not sleep on the Kentucky defense

Josh Paschal, left, could be the key to UK's defensive success. (Vicky Graff Photo)

The start of UK’s football season is right around the corner. As the number of days until the start of the season dwindle it seems like more and more hype is headed towards the Kentucky offense in the direction of newly-named starting quarterback Will Levis, running back Chris Rodriguez, newcomer Wan’Dale Robinson and a whole host of new faces in the wide receiver corp. That doesn’t even include what is probably the best offensive line in the SEC in Kentucky’s Big Blue Wall.

But, as great as the offense could be, no one should be sleeping on Mark Stoops’ defense.

Brad White, UK’s defensive coordinator, recently said, “When you’re strong down the middle in a 3-4 defense — when we talk about nose guard, inside linebacker, safety — you’ve got a chance to be a really good football team. You got a chance to dominate.”

That sounds pretty promising from a guy who knows defensive football. Kentucky finished 14th in the NCAA in team defense in 2019 in White’s first season as a defensive coordinator and 45th last year playing a COVID plagued all-SEC schedule.

Anyone that follows Kentucky football knows that  Stoops always uses defense as the anchor for his teams and this year should be no exception.

UK will have some new players in the defensive line with senior Marquan McCall taking over the nose guard position and underclassmen Josiah Hayes and Justin Rogers, both former four-star recruits, filling in as very able backups. Defensive line coach Anwar Stewart really likes what this trio of players brings to the defense. He said recently about McCall and his two backups, “Marquan is going to carry the boat but we’re going to need those two guys. We’re really just working to get these guys more flexible, getting them in the classroom where they’re learning a lot more of the defense and the technique and everything that it’s going to take to help those guys contribute to this defense.”

Stewart says that replacing last year’s star defensive tackle, Phil Hoskins, will be by committee with Octavius Oxendine, Isaiah Gibson, and Abule Abadi-Fitzgerald all taking snaps at the tackle positions.

Another area that will see a lot of newcomers this season is the linebacking corps. Losing first-round NFL draft pick  Jamin Davis off last year’s team hurts but knowing UK has become Linebacker U. means that there are plenty of able-bodied replacements waiting in the wings.

Some have a lot of experience — like returning veteran D’Andre Square, Ole Miss transfer Jacquez Jones, Jordan Wright, Jared Casey, and JJ Weaver if he gets back from a knee injury — but others have a lot of talent with no experience — like freshmen Trevin Wallace and Martez Thrower.

Square thinks Wallace could be a special player. Square said about Wallace, “He’s going to be a player, I like everything about him. I like his size, his confidence. He listens to everything. He’s not a guy that thinks he knows it all at a young age. He listens to everything. He wants to improve. I think he’ll be an important part of this defense this year and years on because he’s a hard worker.”

 White thinks that another linebacker, senior transfer Jacquez Jones at middle linebacker, might be a big key to the defense. He said recently,  “You bring in a guy that has played in the SEC as well as he has, and you put him into the mix — the thing that I can say about ‘Quez is that he’s been able to come in and he fits. He fits the culture, he’s melded right with our guys. He loves them, they love him. It’s like he’s been here for a long time. That’s a positive.”

The last group to discuss in this Wildcat defense — the secondary — should be in great shape for first-year coach Chris Collins (who replaced Steve Clinkscale). With experienced returning players like Davonte Robinson, Cedric Dort, Carrington Valentine, Ty Ajian, and Yusuf Corker to go along with several experienced back-ups the cornerback and safety group could be a strength of this defense.

Now, one player I purposefully didn’t mention until the end of this article is senior defensive end Josh Paschal because in my opinion, how Paschal performs is how this defense will perform. If he performs in former UK superstar Josh Allen-type style this defense could be exceptional but if not, then someone else will have to step up like Jamin Davis did last season, to lead this defense back up to a Top 20 level.

So there you have it. Even though the defense isn’t getting much love from the national media, they could be the key to a winning season and Kentucky’s ability to compete in the SEC East. If the defense performs like it did in 2019 that could take a lot of pressure off Liam Coen’s new offense and give them a little breathing room until they get all the first-year kinks worked out.

A Kentucky team that has a Top 20 defense and an offense that is hitting on all cylinders could end up being a very tough out in the football world. And that would be exactly what the doctor ordered after the Wildcats had such a trying season last year.