This Kentucky unit was No. 13 in SEC last year. Now it’s No. 4. Here’s why.
When Kentucky’s defensive backs say everything in their position room is a competition, they’re being quite serious.
There are daily weigh-ins between cornerback Derrick Baity and safety Davonte Robinson
“Me and him we compete about our weight every day,” Robinson said. “Today I was the victor of that one.”
Baity has won plenty of other clashes, though.
“We’ve got people who love to compete in there, so everything’s a competition down to, ‘I dressed better than you,’” the senior said.
They make even the trivial highly important.
So it’s easy to imagine how high the stakes are on things like interceptions, tackles, pass breakups, sacks and pretty much any other measurable on the field.
When Baity got an interception at South Carolina, safety Darius West — who leads that competition with three interceptions this season and a team-best five pass breakups — looked at the corner and said, ‘Now, I’m trying to get two.’”
The competition carries over into the meeting room, into practice, then into games
“We’ve got so many personalities in there,” Baity said of the defensive backs room. “It’s fun. Then we bring that edge. …
“The competition level makes us better. It’s fun in there. But with all our personalities, it’s crazy in there.”
But it’s a good kind of competitive, a good kind of crazy, their coaches said of the Cats’ pass defense, which is fourth in the Southeastern Conference this season, allowing 189.9 yards per game through the air with six scores and seven picks.
“I just like the way they’ve really just stepped up and matured,” Coach Mark Stoops said of the same group that was 13th in the league a season ago, allowing 251.6 yards per game.
“You don’t have to poke at them and prod them to prepare and practice and have that attention to detail in meetings. They’ve been much more competitive on the field and it shows.”
The competition ramps up considerably this week versus Missouri, the No. 18 passing offense in the country behind quarterback Drew Lock. The Tigers (4-3, 0-3 SEC) are throwing for 300-plus yards a game and 16 touchdowns.
“He’s got unbelievable arm talent,” UK defensive coordinator Matt House said. “He hangs in there and makes tough throws. He can see coverages and he knows where he’s going with the ball. He throws in rhythm. He’s a special quarterback.”
Lock forces players to win one-on-one battles and it’s not just about deep passes. Slant routes, hitches and others are part of the plan, and he has talent around him at tight end, wide receiver and running back, too.
And all of it is done at a fast pace behind Lock, who has completed 40 of his 73 passes for 555 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions in two starts versus the Cats. UK has recorded just one sack in those two games against the senior signal caller.
“A lot of their explosive plays come because people do miss tackles on the short, quick game,” House said. “We’ve got to do a great job not only covering, but tackling.”
The admiration is mutual. Despite having faced Georgia and Alabama already this season, Missouri’s Barry Odom said Kentucky (6-1, 4-1) has “as good of a defense as we’ve seen.
“They do a great job on being aggressive and almost suffocating in coverage,” he said. “They’re an older group and it looks like they’ve played together and it shows up in the way that they play.”
It shows up even in the small things on the field, in the position room and in practice, too.
Now it’s time to put that competitiveness to good use.
Defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale said: “We have a competitive room, but they do it the right way. It’s not negative, it’s positive and they’re encouraging each other, but they also hold each other accountable.”