Kentucky football defeated LSU on another walk off two-point conversion, as the Wildcats move to 5-1 on the season and now find themselves ranked #15 in the country. Obviously, the offense is getting all the love after a back-to-back win on a two-point play and putting up over 400 yards of total offense on an elite LSU defense. However, this Kentucky defense kept doing what they have done all season long. We reviewed the Kentucky offense, now let's jump into the Kentucky defense.
Coming into the game, everyone was focused on Kentucky's run defense as they have struggled this season mainly against quarterbacks scrambling. The Wildcats allowed 94 yards on 36 carries to LSU, which is a staggering 2.6 yards per carry number. Sam Leavitt had just
39 yards on 15 carries, his long was a 15-yard touchdown run in overtime. Kentucky's run defense really stepped up against this high powered offense.
We mentioned how big winning the turnover margin could impact this football game, and it showed up despite Kentucky not scoring any points off those turnovers. Sam Leavitt threw a high inaccurate pass in the third quarter on an in-breaking route that popped in the air into Ty Bryant's hands. The second turnover came late in the fourth quarter as defensive tackle Jamarrion Harkless pushed the offensive lineman directly into Leavitt's lap to force the fumble. Kentucky played clean on offense and the defense once again created timely turnovers to regain momentum.
The Wildcats defensive line was active all night, edge defenders Sam Green and Mi'Quise Humphrey-Grace were getting in the backfield quickly on multiple occasions. Defensive tackles Tavion Gadson and Jamarrion Harkless were creating havoc inside. Harkless was incredible in this game, this was easily his best performance as a Wildcat. It was a big weekend for Lexington-natives as Harkless impacted the game, Bryant got the interception and Brock Coffman ran back the punt return.
Back to the defensive line, they pressured Leavitt on over 40% of his dropbacks, which is an elite number. We thought that was a gettable area as LSU is led by offensive line coach Eric Wolford, who previously worked at Kentucky. The Tigers offensive line was consistently overwhelmed by this group up front and they capitalized this week by turning those pressures into sacks. Harkless and Greene both had 1.5 sacks on the day, which was a massive swing in this game as Kentucky's offensive line allowed just one sack in the game.
Kentucky's pass defense has been the strength of their defense to start, but Leavitt found success in the passing game. We knew that Lane Kiffin and Charlie Weis would be able to move the football and generate points. However, it is worth pointing out that they needed to go deep in the play sheet to get a couple of those touchdowns. The first one was a reverse pass that leaked tight end Zach Grace wide open down the sideline for a 22-yard score and the second was a double pass where wide receiver Jackson Harris threw an unbelievable 41-yard touchdown pass to Roman Mothershed.
Kentucky's defense limited explosives and forced LSU to work for their points. When the time came, Kentucky's defense once again played opportunistically and made game swinging plays. One of the biggest plays of the game was linebacker Grant Godfrey's tackle on a slant route that put the Tigers in fourth down and one yard to gain. This set up Kiffin to make a decision in which he ultimately punted it back to the Wildcats, to set up a beautiful two minute drive that sent the game into overtime.
Kentucky's defense just keeps making plays when they are needed most. A huge shoutout to Grant Godfrey and Bo Barnes, as they were forced to essentially play the entire game with the Wildcats lack of linebacker depth. Kentucky has more momentum than any team in the country. This team is improving every week and gaining confidence as they go.
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky Defense Review: The Wildcats keep creating havoc
