Good Wednesday afternoon to ya, HOB. Greetings from suddenly-fall Lexington, Ky. Cats are wrapping up today’s practice, and it’s 59 degrees here at the JCFTC. First day in pants in quite some time. Always a weird feeling. But I digress… It’s defense day for us, so we’ll be chatting with DC Brad White, defensive staff and players when practice wraps up. Should be around 5:30 ET today. Stay tuned…
DC BRAD WHITE Q&A:
* Tempo aspect and emphasis with run game makes Ole Miss really tricky to defend. Can be really deflating because they can also take their shots down the field.
* On learning from tempo mistakes last year vs Tennessee… Learn from those, but you have to live for today, not dwell on the past. New team, new opponent.
* Cited Dallas Cowboy Micah Parsons quote about saying he’s got 17 chances per year to show people the hard work he’s put in. Gotta make every week count, learn and improve from last week’s breakdowns. You can get exposed by anyone you play. Knew NIU was capable of that.
* Stressing a fast start and being ready to play. That tempo can get on you really fast. They scored on GaTech almost immediately after kickoff.
* On Alex Afari…. He’s getting a little better every week, fewer mistakes. Corrects them when you do have one. Not a repeat offender. New challenge for him this week with a scheme he hasn’t seen.
* Ole Miss QB Dart doesn’t get enough credit for how athletic he is. He can hurt you with his legs at times.
* On Jacquez and Keidron having played for them… A team is what they are on tape. Not sure it matters a lot to this defense.
* On pass rush… Work in progress. Has to come from different angles. Teams theyve played so far have got the ball out really quick. Not sitting in the pocket much. Understanding scheme and pressuring as a team is the key.
* Communication errors last week were frustrating. Haven’t had those all season. Can’t happen again.
* Says a lot that Lane Kiffin has passed for a ton of yards in the past but is running a lot now. Good coaching. Play to your team’s strengths. Kinda similar to what Stoops is doing with UK offense this year, only roles reversed.
CB KEIDRON SMITH:
* Has a good relationship with his old teammates at Ole Miss. No bad blood or anything.
* Ole Miss is still up-tempo, but running more now. Thinks he has a decent idea still of what they're going to try to do.
* Rebels have a "three-headed monster" at running back. All really talented. Those guys run hard. Tackling and getting them to the ground is really important.
* Getting off the field is really important when you have the chance against a tempo offense like this.
* Has no idea how to even get to the visitor's locker room at the stadium "That's gonna be different."
* On what he remembers from last UK-Ole Miss game... "I remember Ruffolo missing a FG. (Laughs) That's my guy, though."
* Having an SEC game under their belt should be an advantage in this one.
* On what the Ole Miss defense has to face with Chris Rodriguez being back... First time he tried to tackle C-Rod, he busted his lip, "so I'm glad to see someone else have to do that now."
LB JACQUEZ JONES:
* Jacquez says he's not even familiar where the visitors' locker room is at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium in Oxford. It will feel different.
* Extra nerves for this game? Not really. But it is personal in the sense that he really wants to win. But you have to treat it like every other game, the next game.
* When Jones looked to transfer, he had no idea this game would be played. "God works in mysterious ways." Says the only thing he knew about Kentucky before he came here was from school geography. Now it's his "forever home."
* His younger self would have probably been trying to do too much in this game, out of position. But being more mature and experienced, he doesn't think that will be an issue.
* On getting C-Rod back... Having played against him, the first time he broke down to tackle C-Rod, he got a concussion. The first time he ever had one. Ran into C-Rod's knee. Had to go lay down on the sideline. Didn't know where he was for a while. Glad to have him on his side this time. "They gotta deal with that now."
* On what he remembers from last UK-Ole Miss game where he was on the other side... Ruffolo missing the kick. LOL. UK kicker taking some grief from the former Rebels today. They haven't mentioned it to him, but said Ruffolo mentioned that Coach Kiffin owes him one.
* Likes the Ole Miss backs. Thinks they're going to be big stars in the future. He's a little surprised that Ole Miss has transitioned from throwing the ball all over the place to running the ball real well.
* You gotta get the Rebels before they can get rolling. Don't want to see that momentum get started.
CB COACH CHRIS COLLINS:
* On the challenge of defending the Ole Miss ground game... It demands their guys be tuned in, locked in. They can run the ball and stretch the field when they need to.
* Rebels have two big WRs with length. Heath and Mingo present a challenge, but UK's guys have been excited about it, embracing the challenge.
* Keidron Smith's skillset features a tremendous feel for the ball in the air. Allows you to play fast, confident. Also a really good tackler, important in this game. Has done a better job since being at UK in terms of when to take chances and when not to.
* CBs have been really good in run support. Biggest thing is not falling asleep on a play. Carrington Valentine has been much more physical in run support, and that has them excited. They challenged him with that in the off-season as an area he needed to improve.
DC BRAD WHITE Q&A:
* Tempo aspect and emphasis with run game makes Ole Miss really tricky to defend. Can be really deflating because they can also take their shots down the field.
* On learning from tempo mistakes last year vs Tennessee… Learn from those, but you have to live for today, not dwell on the past. New team, new opponent.
* Cited Dallas Cowboy Micah Parsons quote about saying he’s got 17 chances per year to show people the hard work he’s put in. Gotta make every week count, learn and improve from last week’s breakdowns. You can get exposed by anyone you play. Knew NIU was capable of that.
* Stressing a fast start and being ready to play. That tempo can get on you really fast. They scored on GaTech almost immediately after kickoff.
* On Alex Afari…. He’s getting a little better every week, fewer mistakes. Corrects them when you do have one. Not a repeat offender. New challenge for him this week with a scheme he hasn’t seen.
* Ole Miss QB Dart doesn’t get enough credit for how athletic he is. He can hurt you with his legs at times.
* On Jacquez and Keidron having played for them… A team is what they are on tape. Not sure it matters a lot to this defense.
* On pass rush… Work in progress. Has to come from different angles. Teams theyve played so far have got the ball out really quick. Not sitting in the pocket much. Understanding scheme and pressuring as a team is the key.
* Communication errors last week were frustrating. Haven’t had those all season. Can’t happen again.
* Says a lot that Lane Kiffin has passed for a ton of yards in the past but is running a lot now. Good coaching. Play to your team’s strengths. Kinda similar to what Stoops is doing with UK offense this year, only roles reversed.
CB KEIDRON SMITH:
* Has a good relationship with his old teammates at Ole Miss. No bad blood or anything.
* Ole Miss is still up-tempo, but running more now. Thinks he has a decent idea still of what they're going to try to do.
* Rebels have a "three-headed monster" at running back. All really talented. Those guys run hard. Tackling and getting them to the ground is really important.
* Getting off the field is really important when you have the chance against a tempo offense like this.
* Has no idea how to even get to the visitor's locker room at the stadium "That's gonna be different."
* On what he remembers from last UK-Ole Miss game... "I remember Ruffolo missing a FG. (Laughs) That's my guy, though."
* Having an SEC game under their belt should be an advantage in this one.
* On what the Ole Miss defense has to face with Chris Rodriguez being back... First time he tried to tackle C-Rod, he busted his lip, "so I'm glad to see someone else have to do that now."
LB JACQUEZ JONES:
* Jacquez says he's not even familiar where the visitors' locker room is at Vaught-Hemmingway Stadium in Oxford. It will feel different.
* Extra nerves for this game? Not really. But it is personal in the sense that he really wants to win. But you have to treat it like every other game, the next game.
* When Jones looked to transfer, he had no idea this game would be played. "God works in mysterious ways." Says the only thing he knew about Kentucky before he came here was from school geography. Now it's his "forever home."
* His younger self would have probably been trying to do too much in this game, out of position. But being more mature and experienced, he doesn't think that will be an issue.
* On getting C-Rod back... Having played against him, the first time he broke down to tackle C-Rod, he got a concussion. The first time he ever had one. Ran into C-Rod's knee. Had to go lay down on the sideline. Didn't know where he was for a while. Glad to have him on his side this time. "They gotta deal with that now."
* On what he remembers from last UK-Ole Miss game where he was on the other side... Ruffolo missing the kick. LOL. UK kicker taking some grief from the former Rebels today. They haven't mentioned it to him, but said Ruffolo mentioned that Coach Kiffin owes him one.
* Likes the Ole Miss backs. Thinks they're going to be big stars in the future. He's a little surprised that Ole Miss has transitioned from throwing the ball all over the place to running the ball real well.
* You gotta get the Rebels before they can get rolling. Don't want to see that momentum get started.
CB COACH CHRIS COLLINS:
* On the challenge of defending the Ole Miss ground game... It demands their guys be tuned in, locked in. They can run the ball and stretch the field when they need to.
* Rebels have two big WRs with length. Heath and Mingo present a challenge, but UK's guys have been excited about it, embracing the challenge.
* Keidron Smith's skillset features a tremendous feel for the ball in the air. Allows you to play fast, confident. Also a really good tackler, important in this game. Has done a better job since being at UK in terms of when to take chances and when not to.
* CBs have been really good in run support. Biggest thing is not falling asleep on a play. Carrington Valentine has been much more physical in run support, and that has them excited. They challenged him with that in the off-season as an area he needed to improve.
