Kentucky Defense Focused on Southern Miss
Fall camp has come to an end and it’s game week for the Kentucky football team. The Cats open the 2024 season on Saturday night against Southern Miss at Kroger Field (7:45 ET, SEC Network).
The Cats admit that they are tired of hitting each other and are ready to face an opponent. That fact alone gives UK defensive coordinator a level of comfort as the opener approaches. He knows that his unit is focused on their week one foe.
“There’s plenty of recent occurrences where if we don’t play well, you’re in a dogfight for four quarters and sometimes you’re on the wrong end or close to the wrong end,” White said. “Our guys understand that, I’ve got no worries about them (having) a letdown or looking ahead or any of that. Their sole focus has been Southern Miss. They dove hard into it, we tried to do a really deep dive.”
Season openers, especially in the era of the transfer portal, are always hard for coaches. Evaluating talent that previously played at other schools and figuring out how they fit into their new teams is exhausting. White knows this, but he wants his unit to focus on what they do and to follow the game plan.
“There’s a lot of unknowns, one because it’s the first game, two it’s a different coordinator, three a lot of different personnel,” White said. “We’ve got a focus and the focus has been on us to execute.”
That new offensive coordinator is someone with whom White is familiar. Chip Long has served as an offensive coordinator at four different Division I schools, in addition to spending time at Tennessee and Louisville.
“Coach Long is a seasoned play caller,” White said. “(He’s been at) Notre Dame, Tulane, Georgia Tech, we’ve seen him in crossover stuff. There’s familiarity from both sides. It’s a system that will stress you with shifts, motions, pre-snap, post-snap they find ways to get their playmakers the ball. There’s going to be some unique looks that we probably haven’t practiced and our guys are going to have to fall back on their rules and execute.”
White hopes that his unit’s experience will be beneficial.
“Experience matters. But it doesn’t always (alleviate) the anxiety that you have as a coach,” White said. “That’s always going to be there, as a coach. The bottom line is, you have to live up to it. The players that have been talked about a lot, they have to live up to that bill. The guys who haven’t, they’ve got to be able to show why they do belong. Experience helps a little bit because they understand what to expect from us as a coaching staff, but we know every season is different so we always have to be ready to adjust.”
The Cats are ready for the season opener and are prepared to face Southern Miss.
