Trevin Wallace plays football like an accelerating Tesla

Like Ricky Bobby, Trevin Wallace wants to go fast. The Kentucky linebacker was a record-breaking sprinter in high school and it’s showing up on Saturdays in Lexington.

A top 100 talent from Wayne County, Georgia in the class of 2021, it did not take long for the BBN to see his athleticism on the football field. As a true freshman he returned a blocked field goal 76 yards for a touchdown against Florida, creating one of the loudest crowd pops in Kroger Field history.

Now in his first season as a full-time starter at Will linebacker, that athleticism has turned into production. He was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week following the season-opening win over Ball State. Wallace leads Kentucky in tackles (19), tackles for loss (3) and sacks (1.5).

“I think everybody sees that suddenness, that twitch,” defensive coordinator Brad White said Tuesday. “It’s kind of like a Tesla. You hit that accelerator and it’s such a smooth acceleration from zero to 60. You don’t even realize how fast he is until four steps in and he’s already on the quarterback. I think it takes the offense — they’re like, Man, I didn’t think somebody could run through a hole that fast. So we need him to continue to play at that level.

“I’m obviously pleased with how he’s played. There’s some mistakes in that game that even he would like to have back and we all have things to clean up. Excited about how D-Jack (D’Eryk Jackson) is playing and he’s playing really good football. The two of them right now are playing good football together and they’re complementing each other. We need to continue to build on that.”

The speed at which Wallace plays is eye-opening, even for the guys who live up alongside him. Safety Zion Childress is still adjusting to it in the back of the UK defense.

“Playing with Trevin, you kind of got to just play ball. He plays so fast,” said Chilress. “When you got somebody like that you gotta kind of let him do his thing and off of him.”

When he does his thing, it’s hard to stop Trevin Wallace. In 18 pass rushes, 8 have resulted in pressures, the second-most of any linebacker in the country. It’s hard to slow down the talented Kentucky linebacker.

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