Kentucky Defense Looking to Create, Take Advantage of Opportunities
Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White has talked about how important it is for his team to get off the field on third down. It’s crucial for the UK defense to stop the opposition so that the Kentucky offense can get back on the field.
In Saturday’s loss to South Carolina, the Cats had a couple of opportunities to stop the Gamecocks in the third quarter. However, the UK defense was not able to get off the field and South Carolina would score on both drives, extending their lead. White knew that the Cats had their chances and were not able to take advantage of them.
“We’ve talked about this before. You don’t know when those big moments are going to arise,” White said. “And you don’t know if those moments are going to be the ones that change the game. When those moments arose, we had some opportunities to change the momentum of the game and we let it slip through our fingers. And they capitalized on the moments when they came for them. That was the story of the game.”
On third downs, the Cats held their own on the day, according to White. However, he also knows that his unit must finish plays and get off the field.
“On third and long, they were three of 10 on the day,” White said. “One of the third downs was third-and-one, so they converted two and we stopped them on five. So, three of seven. We want to go seven for seven, not five for seven. On one of them, we had an opportunity, missed a sack. Didn’t run the contain correctly up front so he was able to push away from the sack. The route concepts, if it gets that deep into the down, has a chance to break away. If we make the sack, if we get the contain, it would be hard for him to find someone.”
White is not discouraged, in any way, about his team’s effort. He knows that it’s just a matter of winning some battles, creating opportunities and taking advantage of those chances.
“We’ve got to win our one-on-ones, both from a pass rush standpoint and coverage,” White said. “I know we’re all hurting from last year. If we started from scratch this year, I don’t think people would think we had a third and long issue. There were plays to capitalize on. We get them to fourth and one, we can’t jump offsides. Yes, we need to execute better. But was it a full system failure? No.”
White and the UK defense will take on No. 1 Georgia on Saturday, hoping to create and take advantage of opportunities to get off the field on third down.
