Kentucky's defense stepped up against Texas in spite of DJ Waller Jr.'s pregame injury setback

The Big Blue Nation assumed Kentucky’s defense would see the return of starting cornerback DJ Waller Jr. against Texas on Saturday. The former Michigan transfer, who has not played since Week 1 due to a hamstring injury, was not listed on the SEC Availability Report throughout the week, a sign he was good to go this weekend.

But in the lead-up to kickoff, Waller was not dressed to play. He ultimately sat out once again after head coach Mark Stoops said something happened in the pregame warmups that pushed him back to the sideline.

“We thought they were getting DJ back and he got a setback pregame,” Stoops said after Kentucky’s 16-13 overtime loss to Texas. “I was told as I was getting ready he was not able to go.”

That was obviously tough news for a Kentucky defense that just gave up 35 points and 425 yards of offense the week prior to Georgia, not to mention the 35 points and 341 yards of offense allowed to South Carolina not long before that.

But defensive coordinator Brad White drew up a brilliant game plan against the Longhorns, even without his star corner. UK held Texas to eight first downs and only 179 total yards of offense, the fewest against an SEC opponent since Vanderbilt totaled 139 yards in 2014. Quarterback Arch Manning finished with just 132 yards on 12-27 passing as no Texas player ran for more than 40 yards. Three sacks marked a season-high for the ‘Cats. It was one of the worst offensive performances of the Steve Sarkisian era in Austin.

The end result isn’t what anyone wanted, but the timing of this impressive performance is ideal for Kentucky, which will host Tennessee’s explosive offense next weekend.

“It shows the kind of character we have in that room,” White said postgame. “Now it’s about putting back-to-back performances. When you have a tough loss like that, you gotta show up again and we gotta do it against a really good offense that’s coming here next week. Can’t put your head down, just gotta get back to work.”

Tennessee boasts one of the country’s most dangerous offenses. The Volunteers rank fifth nationally in yards per game (511) and third nationally in points per game (44.1). Granted, Texas’ offense isn’t anywhere near that level from a statistical standpoint, but it’s better for Kentucky to have defensive momentum than not.

Unfortunately, it won’t matter how well White’s defense plays if the offense can’t get into the end zone twice in a single game.

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