Three Plays: Kentucky defense, special teams beat Florida

In Kentucky’s 20-13 upset victory over Florida, offensive coordinator Liam Coen and his offense had some issues.

The Wildcats only got off 45 plays and struggled to put together drives. Time after time, Mark Stoops and Brad White needed their defense to get stops to give the offense some chances.

Boy, that unit delivered when the team had to have it.

On this week’s edition of Three Plays at KSR, we are going defense-heavy. Led by a boatload of seniors, Kentucky just kept making plays and getting game-changing stops.

What a gutsy performance.

NOTs win games

To begin the third quarter, Kentucky put a good drive together but an egregious missed pass interference call ended a drive. One possession later, Will Levis threw another interception on a misfire over the middle on third down.

However, a timely holding call got Florida into third and long and Kentucky was able to get a scoring opportunity stop. What happened next was the biggest play of the game and brought back major Anwar Stewart memories from 1997.

At the snap, Josh Paschal wins on an inside move and blocks the 48-yard field goal attempt. Then, the football gods deliver a bounce as the ball directly finds itself into the hands of true freshman linebacker Trevin Wallace. The former top-50 recruit then flashes off the rushing ability that was on display when he ran 382 yards in a playoff game last season in South Georgia.

Kentucky takes the lead and never gives it up for the remaining 21 minutes of the game. A tremendous effort play from a redshirt senior and a true freshman.

The present meets the future in the second NOT (non-offensive touchdown) of the season.

Kentucky gets field position tilting interception

Redshirt sophomore J.J. Weaver has been a havoc creator for the Kentucky defense through 20 quarters in 2021. The former blue-chip recruit has four sacks, 2.5 non-sack tackles for loss, and a forced fumble to begin this season.

However, the Louisville (Ky.) Moore High product made the biggest play of his career in a spot where Kentucky needed to have it.

After Kentucky’s offense was stuffed on a fourth-and-short attempt, Kentucky was clinging to a 13-10 lead and needed the defense to get another stop. On second-and-long, EDGE J.J. Weaver ran up the seam with tight end Kemore Gamble and got his eyes on quarterback Emory Jones. Weaver steps in front of the pass and sets up Kentucky’s offense on the doorstep of the red zone.

The Wildcats punch it in for six a few plays later and extend the lead to two possessions in the final quarter. Brad White’s position group delivered in a huge moment and gave a reeling offense a much-needed short field.

Defense gets one more red zone stop

After forcing a field goal, Kentucky was getting the ball back owning a 20-13 lead. With just over six minutes remaining in regulation, Kentucky’s offense needed to move the chains a couple of times and force Florida to burn some timeouts.

However, the Wildcats went three-and-out allowing Florida to get the ball back at their own 38 with over four minutes left. The Gators went five plays in 53 yards and had a first-and-goal at the nine with just over two minutes remaining.

Kentucky buckled down and didn’t allow a score in the next six snaps. However, a facemask penalty extended a drive. Then, Kentucky found itself in a fourth-and-goal situation with the game on the line.

Once again, the Wildcats made a play.

Mike linebacker Jacquez Jones drops back into coverage and gets his hand on the fourth-down pass. Just like that, the game was put on ice, and the celebration was on in Lexington.

Kentucky just made play after play on defense. More often than not, it was a senior delivering the goods. The Ole Miss transfer has been quite a find for the program as Jones has five passes defended (4 pass breakups, 1 interception) this season while serving as a quality run defender.

The entire Kentucky defense deserves the game ball after holding Florida to just 13 points on six scoring opportunities.