You don't want to meet the Kentucky Defense in a back alley after dark
The Kentucky defense continues to consistently slow down opponents better than most SEC teams, yet like Rodney Dangerfield, they get no respect as one of the better units in the league. Why are the Wildcats overlooked? Simply put: they’re just a bunch of badasses.
During a football-heavy edition of Kentucky Sports Radio on Monday morning, Cole Cubelic did his best to get to the crux of this issue.
“In most years, the last five or six years, they haven’t been the most athletic,” said the SEC Network analyst. “They haven’t been the fastest, they haven’t been the sleekest, they haven’t been the twitchiest, but it’s just normally been guys that know how to rough you up a little bit. You wouldn’t want to meet them in the back alley, and I think it could be very similar this year.”
The way Kentucky plays is a direct reflection of the Wildcats’ head coach. The defense has taken on the personality of Mark Stoops. It has raised the unit’s floor. The group’s ceiling is determined by the talent of the defense’s top playmakers.
“I do think you see what JJ Weaver‘s capable of, what Trevin Wallace is capable of and they might be a little bit more tweaked up this year than what they may have been in certain years. But I think it’s just the blueprint of the program. That is we’re always going to be a little bit disrespected, but we’re going to fight you to make you respect us in the end. That’s what Coach Stoops just kind of is and I think the defense has always taken that personality.”
Defense Recruits and Develops
Two true freshmen were first team All-SEC defensive selections. Harold Perkins was a consensus five-star player ranked in the Top 10 of the On3 Industry Ranking. Half of the major recruiting services didn’t even think Deone Walker was a top 300 prospect.
“They just know how to find some of those diamonds in the rough, get them in, get them going a little bit in the strength and conditioning program, develop them into players at different positions where they can help out,” said Cubelic.
Walker will be a foundational piece for one of the biggest defensive lines Kentucky has ever fielded. This group has more high-ceiling talent than previous years. How they perform alongside some nasty thumpers will be enjoyable to watch in the fall, as long as you aren’t on the other sideline.
“I love the front seven,” Cubelic told the KSR audience. “There are some concerns with the back end (of the defense) this year. But I think they have a chance up front to be pretty good and be that same kind of group that we’ve talked about that you probably don’t want to meet in a back alley after dark.”
Kentucky is a “mean, fundamentally sound team”
The nasty that emanates from the Kentucky football team is evident to more than one SEC football analyst. On this morning’s edition of McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning, Spencer Hall joined the program and shared why he’s always high on Kentucky in the offseason. Despite being a Florida backer, the way Mark Stoops operates keeps bringing Hall back for more.
“I have all of the faith in the world in Kentucky. I love the way they do everything, solid up and down,” said the ESPN writer and co-host of Thinking Out Loud.
“The problem with me saying that Kentucky can bounce up into that tier, it’s always the break of who they play. They will play a Florida team that no longer overlooks them. They will play Georgia. That’s a thing that unfortunately has to happen. They will even play an improving Vanderbilt team. I want you to know, I’d make that bet on Kentucky, but I always make that bet on Kentucky, because again, I love the way they do things. They’re just a mean, fundamentally solid team.”
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