‘If he ain’t the freakiest one, I don’t know who is.’ Trevin Wallace taking flight for UK.
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Preview: EKU at Kentucky
Click below to read more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s preview coverage ahead of Saturday’s Kentucky-Eastern Kentucky football game at 3 p.m. at Kroger Field.
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When national college football reporter Bruce Feldman included Trevin Wallace on his annual college football freaks list for The Athletic, no one in the Kentucky locker room was surprised.
They just wondered how he could be ranked as low as 11th.
“It’s crazy to see,” safety Zion Childress said of Wallace. “I’ve been around a lot of athletic people, different people in my life, but I can say I’ve never seen anybody that size and that weight move the way (Wallace) moves. Speed, jumping, pure explosion, it’s crazy to watch.
“They put him on the list of freaks. Man, if he ain’t the freakiest one, I don’t know who is.”
Feldman cited the 6-foot-2, 241-pound Wallace’s 38.5-inch vertical, 380-pound power clean lift and 600-pound squat as evidence of his worthiness for the list.
That athleticism and more was on display in the Wildcats’ 2023 season opener when Wallace led the team with 12 tackles to go with two tackles for loss and one-half sack. UK’s GPS units clocked Wallace at faster than 21 mph during the Ball State game, the second-fastest time of any player on the team behind only wide receiver Barion Brown.
“Trevin will wow you with the athleticism and played a really good game,” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said. “When Brad (White) brought him several times, you feel his impact on pressures. He’s a big dude that’s got some pop to him. ... He can obviously run like heck.”
Wallace has been projected to eventually become one of Kentucky’s best defenders since he committed to the Wildcats as a four-star prospect at Wayne County High School in Georgia.
As a freshman in 2021, Wallace scored the game-winning touchdown when he returned a blocked field goal 76 yards against Florida. He was named SEC Freshman of the Week after totaling 12 tackles and two tackles for loss in his first start against Mississippi State.
Wallace started six games as a sophomore while filling in for the injured DeAndre Square, but for all his glimpses of potential over the last two years the presence of Square and fellow inside linebacker Jacquez Jones was something of a security blanket for Wallace.
With Square and Jones gone, the spotlight is now fully on Wallace and middle linebacker D’Eryk Jackson.
“I feel a lot different because now I get to showcase my true ability,” Wallace said. “Last year or my freshman year, we had two great guys, Jacquez and Square, in front of me. Now it’s my turn to go show my true ability and show people what I’m really about.”
A change in mindset has accompanied Wallace taking on a featured role.
In previous seasons, Wallace found himself playing laterally too often as a result of indecisiveness. White emphasized playing downhill to Wallace over the offseason, letting him know Kentucky coaches trusted him enough to take a few risks in order to make more plays.
By attacking toward the line of scrimmage, Wallace was able to turn his unique athletic gifts into on-field production against Ball State. There were mistakes, but UK coaches expressed confidence the miscues could be fixed and lead to even better performances from Wallace moving forward.
Kentucky’s last three first round NFL draft picks were all linebackers. It might still be too early to place Wallace in the same category as Jamin Davis, Josh Allen and Bud Dupree, but whenever he does enter the draft the same physical tools that put Wallace on Feldman’s freaks list will surely wow NFL scouts in workouts.
No one at Kentucky is putting a cap on Wallace’s ceiling for now.
Before he left UK, Square challenged Wallace to earn a spot among Kentucky’s team captains this season. That goal was accomplished last week, a sign of the respect teammates and coaches have for Wallace even as he enters his first season as a full-time starter.
Mastering the finer points of linebacker play is the next step for Wallace. Then his athletic gifts become even more effective.
“There’s a comfortability right now to how he’s playing the game, which allows him to play fast,” White said during preseason camp. ”When Trevin is playing fast, it’s a different level of speed.”
Wallace set a goal to record double-digit tackles in each game this season. His SEC Defensive Player of the Week performance against Ball State accomplished that and more.
Perhaps the freakiest thing about Wallace is that there could be even more to come.
“He’s a dog,” quarterback Devin Leary said after the Ball State game. “I challenged him actually to get 15 tackles today because I know he can do it. I’ve seen it. I’ve seen what type of player he is.
“He’s a cool dude too. Someone that when we’re hanging in here in the cafeteria, I can grab some food and just talk ball with him. That’s just the type of person he is. But as a football player, he’s a dog on that field and he’s only going to get better.”
Saturday
Eastern Kentucky at Kentucky
When: 3 p.m.
Live video broadcast: SEC Network Plus and ESPN Plus (online only)
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Eastern Kentucky 0-1, Kentucky 1-0
Series: Kentucky leads 5-0
Last meeting: Kentucky won 27-16 on Sept. 9, 2017, in Lexington
This story was originally published September 7, 2023 at 9:55 AM.
