Maxwell Hairston Earns SEC Defensive Player of the Week
Fresh off accomplishing a feat that had never been recorded in school history, Kentucky defensive back Maxwell Hairston has been named the Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced Monday by the league office.
Hairston tied an SEC record by returning two interceptions for touchdowns in a 45-28 victory over Vanderbilt in the Wildcats’ SEC opener last weekend. The performance was especially poignant given the Commodores completed a long pass against Hairston in the final minutes of last season’s upset victory when, then a freshman, Hairston had to replace a banged-up Carrington Valentine for a play.
The sophomore from West Bloomfield, Michigan, enacted his revenge on Saturday.
On Vanderbilt’s second possession he broke on, and picked off, a floating pass near the sideline and easily raced 29 yards untouched for the touchdown to give UK a 14-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, he snatched a pass near the same sideline and weaved his way 54 yards to the end zone, sealing UK’s win.
For the game, Hairston had four tackles, three pass breakups and the two interceptions for 83 return yards. Two of the breakups came on series of downs that ended in punts. He also helped keep short completions from turning into long plays, as all four of his tackles came on plays of 11 yards or less. Add linebacker D’Eryk Jackson’s interception and UK caused three turnovers on the day in defeating Vanderbilt for the seventh time in the past nine meetings. On the season, Hairston has 23 tackles, one tackle for loss, three interceptions, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Kentucky returns to Kroger Field Saturday when it plays host to Florida at noon on ESPN. The game is sold out. UK Athletics urges fans to use caution against counterfeit and invalid tickets. Only tickets purchased directly through the following outlets are guaranteed to be valid:
- The UK Ticket Office
- Ticketmaster, including the UK Athletics official resale marketplace
- ReplyBuy
- FEVO
- Visiting team ticket office
UK Athletics cautions against purchasing tickets through other outlets that may be unable to provide this assurance. That risk is magnified for sold-out games like Saturday’s.
The game is sold out utilize the UK Athletics Official Marketplace powered by Ticketmaster.
The verified resale marketplace is completely integrated with UK Athletics’ ticketing system and uses barcode verification technology to ensure the authenticity of all tickets. As the official fan-to-fan marketplace of Big Blue Nation, Ticketmaster provides fans with reliable and convenient access to purchase tickets for games and sections that otherwise may be sold out, as well as the ability to post verified tickets for sale. Fans are cautioned against purchasing tickets from any other outlets.
