This article appears courtesy of RCN partner KY Forward which maintains terrific, all-access coverage of University of Kentucky athletics. Written by Jon Hale of KY Forward.
When the UK football team traveled to Arkansas with three true freshmen starting in the secondary against the No. 2 ranked passing offense in the Southeastern Conference, fans could see trouble coming.
Even with the bleakest predictions, a 42-0 halftime deficit and 49-7 loss in less than three quarters of play was still surprisingly bad.
After surrendering touchdowns on each of Arkansas’ first six possessions, how does the young Wildcat defense rebound?
“They’ve probably forgotten all about what happened at Arkansas,” said defensive coordinator Rick Minter. “Coaches linger, players move on probably faster.”
Minter said they “buzzed” through the film of the Arkansas debacle on Sunday in hopes of pinpointing some of the problems that led to Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson totaling 372 passing yards in just more than one half of action. That film session may have brought back plenty of bad memories for the UK defense, but it represented a valuable teaching moment for the young players, Minter said.
“Some of them were on the scout team two weeks ago, so every precious piece of film that you can show them is a lesson to be learned,” he said. “Obviously, the (big) plays we don’t tolerate, but we had to show it to them to see what happened, how we prevent it from happening again and go from there.”
The Wildcats will get one of their injured safeties back Saturday against Georgia after sophomore Ashely Lowery was cleared by doctors to resume playing after suffering his second head injury of the season against Mississippi State.
Lowery’s return should move one of the freshmen safeties back to a reserve role, but senior safetyMikie Benton has already been ruled out Saturday with a high-ankle sprain and senior safetyMartavius Neloms is listed as doubtful with a hamstring strain so at least two of the four starting defensive backs will likely be true freshmen.
At least one of the freshmen defensive backs has stood out to coaches despite his youth: cornerback Cody Quinn.
“Since he’s been given the opportunity to jump on that field, I don’t really think he’s hurt us much at all in terms of what he’s doing,” Minter said. “He’s playing extremely well right now. He may have played as well as any of the 11 players last week when you add it all up with the grades out there.”
“You’re starting to see a guy like Cody Quinn right now is playing as good as anybody we’ve had around here,” Phillips said. “He’s challenging receivers. He’s running around, coming up, making tackles. He’s probably one of our better tacklers in the secondary right now, especially with the other guys being out. He’s growing up.”
Quinn has been credited with 15 tackles and a team-high three pass break-ups in six games this season.
He thinks the performance at Arkansas won’t hurt the confidence of him or his fellow freshmen defensive backs.
“You’ve just got to have a short memory, just forget about it and keep moving,” he said. “Just keep rolling and try to learn and try to come together as a unit, especially a secondary.”
UK started six freshmen and played 17 more freshmen off the bench at Arkansas. With so many underclassmen playing key roles for the Wildcats, one might wonder if they are as equipped to cope with the team’s current five-game losing streak as older players might be.
The few Wildcat veterans remaining in playing shape are working to make sure that fear is not an issue.
“Young guys, it’s hard for them to see the bright side just because they’re so young,” said senior defensive end Collins Ukwu. “They don’t have the same vision as you do. It’s just hard for that.”
Still, the upperclassmen have been impressed in the resolve they’ve seen from the Wildcat youngsters.
“Sometimes it helps to have young guys in there who are a little naïve at what’s going on,” said senior center Matt Smith. “They’re in there trying to compete, and they know that they have a long future ahead of them, so they’re trying to show these coaches what they can do and just try to stay out there on the playing field.
“At the same time, it’s one of the better teams that I’ve been around here that has been able to stay motivated and keep coming out week in and week out and keep practicing hard and not rally getting down on ourselves. It’s almost like through the middle of the week, we forget what’s going on and we’re losing so many games.”
Part of establishing that resolve for underclassmen is moving on from the blowout in Fayetteville, but they aren’t forgetting it either.
“We just tried to forget about it, but it’s still kind of in the back of your mind,” Quinn said. “We don’t want that to happen anymore.”
PHOTO: Cody Quinn defends a pass against Mississippi State. (Photo by Jon Hale)
