In 2018, led by Josh Allen, Kentucky’s defense turned into a no-drive zone. Sixth in the nation in scoring defense. Twenty-third in total defense. Then 2019 brought new faces but nearly the same results. No. 14 in scoring defense. No. 20 in total defense.
So you know what that means for the Kentucky “D” in the year of 2020, when the ball is kicked and the pride factor takes hold?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
“Last year, the year before, those years are gone,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White said.
The past is the past. The 2018 Citrus Bowl, 10-win year is done. Same for the 2019 Belk Bowl victory season.
“We’re a different team, we’re a different defense,” White continued. “Do we have a lot of the same pieces? We do. Are we confident in our ability? Are the players confident in their ability and the guy next to them? They are. But every year is different.”
That’s straight from the gospel according to Nick Saban, the Alabama head coach who would feel his temperature rise every time someone referred to the Crimson Tide as the defending national champions. That was last year’s Alabama, he would say. That has nothing to do with this year’s Alabama.
By White’s insistence, the same logic applies to the Kentucky defense. As a former secondary coach and defensive coordinator, head coach Mark Stoops built an outstanding Kentucky defense in 2018. As a new defensive coordinator with new components, Brad White kept it going in 2019. But that means little for the 10-game, all-in SEC season that will be 2020.
“Every year you have to face new adversity and new challenges,” White said. “Just because you look good on paper doesn’t mean you’re going to rise to those challenges and elevate.”
Kentucky does look good on paper. Quinton Bohanna and Josh Paschal anchor a strong defensive line. Boogie Watson appears primed for a breakout campaign at outside linebacker. DeAndre Square is rock-solid and then some at inside linebacker. The secondary is so deep even the coaches aren’t quite sure who’s going to take the field first when the Cats travel to Auburn on Sept. 26.
“Do I have confidence that our guys are going to be able to (meet those challenges)? Absolutely,” White said. “There’s no group that I’d rather go out on the field with. But we have to do that week in and week out.”
This year, once this year finally gets going, that means an SEC game week in and and week out. Ten over an 11-week span. Nothing about that will be easy.
“Numbers can be deceiving,” White said. “You can be statistically better, but you can ask certain coaches and there were teams or units or defenses that they thought were maybe not as statistically good but in the situations they were better. What we need to do is not worry so much about statistics. The only statistic that matters is that we win on Saturday.”
Over the last four years, Kentucky is 16-16 on SEC Saturdays. You have to wet your thumb and flip the record book back to the Bear Bryant days to find a similar four-year stretch. Credit the defense for much of that success.
“The thing we did last year is we limited explosive plays,’ White said. “To me, it’s how many points did you allow and how many big plays, because big plays are momentum shifts. We have to continue to focus on limiting those and then we have an opportunity to make a big play ourselves, we have to make it.”
Overall, however, White’s message is clear. In the “It Just Means More” conference there is no such thing as resting on your laurels. Your success in 2018 and 2019 doesn’t guarantee anything in 2020. Pride is certainly a factor, but production is what counts.
“I think we’ve got the guys to do it,” White said. “But you never know exactly how it’s going to play out until it happens.”
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