Defense Steps Up for Cats on Saturday

The Kentucky defense figured to have its hands full on Saturday, facing a high-powered Texas A&M offense that had scored 50 and 48 points in its first two games of the season.

The Aggies are led by quarterback Marcel Reed, who has been mentioned as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate. A&M also has an outstanding group of receivers for Reed to throw the ball to. They include Mario Craver, Isaiah Horton and Terry Bussey. Running back Rueben Owens II and Reed are both effective runners.

Making the matchup even more intriguing was the fact that current Kentucky defensive coordinator Jay Bateman served in the same role for Texas A&M last season.

On Saturday, Bateman had a happy return to College Station. His defense controlled the game, keeping Reed and the Aggies in check in a 31-21 Kentucky win that was not as close as the final score would indicate.

Reed did finish with 236 yards passing and a touchdown. However, the Cats were able to intercept him twice, with Sam Greene and Jordan Castell each recording picks.

Greene was huge in Saturday’s win. On A&M’s first drive of the game, the Aggies went for a fourth-down conversion, but Greene got in the backfield to stopped Owens for no gain, giving the Cats possession and stopping the Aggies’ drive. After the game, UK head coach Will Stein talked about how big that play was for his team.

“Giant. Getting stopped on downs is like a turnover, so that was a huge momentum shift for us,” Stein said. “They were driving the ball a good amount in the first half.”

While the two interceptions are the only official turnovers counted in the box score, Kentucky produced three stops on fourth down, taking possession back from the Aggies.

It took a team effort to stop Texas A&M on Saturday, and the Cats got exactly that from Bateman’s defensive unit. Castell led the charge with 13 tackles and an interception. Grant Godfrey had 11 tackles, including 0.5 tackles for loss. Ty Bryant, who had to come off the field due to injury on multiple occasions, gutted out 10 tackles in the game.

Bo Barnes added eight tackles while Hasaan Sykes had seven. Greene finished with six tackles, 0.5 for loss, and the interception.

Stein was very happy with his defense, and with Bateman, after the game.

“That’s a tough offense to stop,” Stein said. “They’ve got speed everywhere. They’ve got a really good quarterback. They’ve got a giant offensive line. But I love Jay Bateman and his plan and the way our players played. I thought he was elite.”

Saturday proved to be a happy return to town for Bateman, as his defensive unit stepped up big in UK’s first SEC win of the season.