White, UK Defense Preparing for 'Talented' Ole Miss

The Kentucky defense will face a big challenge on Saturday when nationally-ranked Ole Miss and its high-powered offense come to Kroger Field.

The Rebels scored 63 points and had 695 yards of total offense in a season-opening win over Georgia State. Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White was impressed with the Rebels when he watched the film.

“Really talented group. We understand what they can do,” White said. “The quarterback (Austin Simmons) is playing well, talented group of receivers. I think the backs ran really hard on Saturday, made guys miss. Obviously, the tight ends showed up big time for them as well. Huge, huge challenge.”

White knows that his team needs to focus on the fundamentals and on their assignments in order to slow down the Ole Miss attack.

“We focus on trying to match up their concepts the best we can,” White said. “Use our rules to get where we need to get to. That’s what it comes down to. Fundamentally, if you follow the rules of the defense, more often than not, it’s going to put you in a good position. If you play with clean eyes, skill and talent and technique and finish off the play.”

In last season’s game between the teams, Ole Miss entered with similar numbers. However, the UK defense was able to contain the Rebels in a 20-17 upset win in Oxford. White knows that his unit played well in that game, especially in the vertical passing game.

“Last year, on those one-on-one deep balls, whether you’re in man or zone, it doesn’t really matter,” White said. “Once you’re that far down the field, it’s all man. And they competed. The (defensive backs) did a great job competing down the field and made plays. We’re going to have to do that again.”

Linebacker Alex Afari played well against Toledo, racking up 13 tackles. White liked what he saw from his senior captain.

“I was really pleased with Alex’s performance, how fast he played,” White said. “He did a nice job being violent at the point of contact on his tackles, trusted his read and then he went. So in that regard, Saturday was arguably his best game just because of how consistent he was in everything he did through the game. We need another big-time performance like that this week.”

Afari and the UK defense will face a big challenge on Saturday against Ole Miss. White and his unit are spending this week of practice preparing for that challenge.