Picture your dream home. Odds are you thought about how the house would look or how much acreage would surround it. Maybe you imagined how many bedrooms it would have or whether it would be built with brick. You probably aren’t thinking about the foundation. You can’t see it from the outside, but your dream home is pretty much worthless without it.Much like a house, the foundation cannot be ignored when putting together a football defense.”The first thing you do when you’re building a house is pour a foundation,” defensive line coach David Turner said. “That’s the defensive line,” Without a strong and deep line, a defense can only go so far.”We have to be solid up front, we have to be productive players, we have to be good players and we have to be technique-sound,” Turner said. “Any great defense, professional, college or high school, is going to start with the defensive line and that’s what we’re working towards.”Linebackers Danny Trevathan and Winston Guy are unquestionably the faces of Kentucky’s defense. With 49 tackles and three interceptions between them through just two games, Trevathan and Guy are usually involved when there’s a play to be made. Talking to the pair of seniors, both are very much aware of the importance of UK’s foundation. Outsiders may not always pick up on the dirty work undertaken by UK’s defensive linemen, but their teammates do.”My d-line, they keep those big guys off me, especially with this new
scheme,” Trevathan said. “They’re always stunting and doing different things
to keep the offensive linemen on their heels. It helps me be able to
roam around and not get blocked as much. They do a lot of the dirty work
for me.”It’s a job the group is happy to do.”Our job is to keep the big guys off our linebackers,” defensive tackle Donte Rumph said. “We treat them as an offensive line would treat their quarterback. We’re kind of their protectors so that’s how we feel. We all just have to stick together and we have each other’s back.”Defensive end Collins Ukwu echoed Rumph’s sentiments and is also grateful that his teammates recognize the work that he and his fellow linemen do.”I’m glad they’re mentioning us,” Ukwu said. “We do a lot of the tough work, but that’s part of playing together. I’m glad they’re making the plays also, because they’re supposed to. We love them and I feel like we have two of the best linebackers in the nation.”The defense built around Ukwu, Rumph and company has been solid so far this season, ranking in the top 10 nationally in scoring defense. Ukwu’s leadership has been crucial.”He’s a guy I think the other guys up front rally around and follow,” Turner said. “He’s a great leader and he does it every day on and off the field. He works hard, he practices hard and spends time studying the game. He’s a guy I hold up to the other guys as someone they should try to be like.”Ukwu set a career high with seven tackles in Saturday’s win over Central Michigan and has been happy with his start to the season, but knows he and the line as a whole have room for improvement.”I thought I had more tackles than that, but I feel pretty good,” Ukwu said. “This is something that’s expected from me. We didn’t have any sacks last week, so that’s something I want to improve on this week.”Turner was also disappointed in the lack of sacks, but he pointed out that Central Michigan quarterback Ryan Radcliff was under pressure much of the afternoon.”If we’re doing what we’re supposed to and we don’t get there, it’s OK as long we get pressure,” Turner said. “We hit the quarterback a few times Saturday and we hurried some throws. Sacks come in bunches and hopefully we’ll get our fair share before the year is out.”Facing off against a Louisville offensive line that has allowed seven sacks in two games (104th in the nation), the defensive line will look to get after Cardinal quarterback Will Stein. However, Turner cautioned not to get caught up in numbers, saying that the Louisville offensive front is more than capable.”They’re well-coached,” Turner said. “They have a good offensive line and they have a good offensive line coach. They’ve got great skill guys and they know what they’re going to go out and do. It’s about execution. If they come out and execute better than us up front, it’s going to be a long day. If we do what we’re supposed to do and what we’re capable of doing, it will be a good game.”The Wildcats will focus on putting themselves in positions where they can pin their ears back and attack.”It all starts on first and second down,” Turner said. “If you’re doing a good job on first and second down and putting the offense in third-and-long situations, you have a chance to get sacks. We have to make sure we handle our jobs on first and second down; third down normally takes care of itself.”This season, any number of UK linemen could find themselves in opposing backfields. The coaching staff has long worked to develop the depth necessary to compete for SEC titles, particularly along the defensive line. The fact that Turner now has as many as nine players he can turn to allows starters like Ukwu to feel comfortable going all out on every play.”You have no worries because you can go as hard as you can and know that there’s somebody behind you that plays just as hard and is just as good,” Ukwu said. “It’s really helping and I’m really grateful that I’m the situation of having people behind me that can bring in that same tempo.”  Turner is pleased with how far UK has come in that regard, but continuing to dig a deep foundation is a task that will never be complete.”Right now, we’ve got some numbers,” Turner said. “I’d actually like to play more guys to be honest, but depth is something you always try to develop. It’s a work in progress.”