First Down Kentucky: No robots in Lexington

Football can be a complicated game. There are 11 players on each side of the ball trying to work in unison. There are monsters at the point of attack and smaller guys with speed on the outside. The game also requires high-level fundamentals and some technical precision. When digging into all the moving parts, football can be a complicated game. But it’s also a simple game.

Football is a collision sport that requires blocking and tackling. The team that does that best usually wins. Athletes need to be athletes.

“Football is football,” Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White told the media on Thursday. “When the pads come on, at the end of the day at that position, you’ve gotta know what to do, you gotta know what the run fits are.”

“We don’t need robots, we need playmakers. We need guys that can find the football, hunt it up, and pin it to the ground.”

Kentucky feels like they have some of those guys on defense in 2024. After another fall camp press conference, First Down Kentucky is back to recap what we learned from the defense on Thursday.

Kentucky feels confident in linebacker room

D’Eryk Jackson is now a three-year starter after leading Kentucky in tackles in 2022 and 2023. Former All-American Pop Dumas-Johnson steps into the starting lineup after transferring to Kentucky from Georgia. Former Northern Illinois transfer Daveren Rayner is now in year two. Alex Afari Jr. is now playing Will linebacker.

The off-ball linebacker room is primed to be a team strength in 2024. Brad White has a ton of confidence in this group.

“I feel good sort of about that room. We’ve talked about it — the depth and the level of experience we have in that room,” said White. “We’re going to lean heavy on it.”

Expect Kentucky to ask a lot of their linebackers this season.

Fall camp is never long enough

After the final scrimmage of fall camp wraps up on Saturday, Kentucky will shift into game prep mode as Week 1 is now just over two weeks away. The football season is right around the corner. That means the end of fall camp.

Coaches never want fall camp to end.

“I would say that I’m glad we still have a couple of weeks left,” White told reporters when asked about the defense’s progress. “But I think the energy, the intensity is there. The way they go about their business is there. We gotta clean up some of the small things and clean up some of the technical things.”

Kentucky has a few more practices to clean up some fundamentals before prep for Southern Miss truly begins at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility. For now, White likes where his unit stands heading into the second scrimmage.

“We’re right about where you should be at this point in camp,” White said.

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Octavious Oxendine has regained play strength

Just when Octavious Oxendine started to make some consistent plays as a redshirt freshman in 2021, the redshirt freshman was lost for the season in October. Some weight loss heading into 2022 made the comeback a difficult one for the Radcliff (Ky.) North Hardin product. Fast forward to 2024, and Oxendine is back to a good weight checking in at 278 pounds.

The play strength from that mass has shown up during fall camp.

“You’ve seen the added weight show up. You’ve seen the strength that it brings,” White said about the redshirt senior. “The power, the girth that it brings. He’s put on weight, so he’s back to where he needs to be for him to function at a high level.”

Kentucky’s defensive coordinator specifically pointed out that Oxendine made some impressive plays in situational areas that were a sign of player development. The in-state native will need to play a big role for Kentucky this season. All parties are hopeful that the play strength will be there for Oxendine to be a factor all season.

Work ethic of Terhyon Nichols has made a strong first impression

Terhyon Nichols was a significant recruiting win for the Kentucky football program in the 2024 cycle. The Cincinnati (Ohio) Withrow prospect was a top-250 recruit who enrolled early. After a quiet spring, the true freshman is pushing for snaps at cornerback.

Other players have been raving about the young player throughout camp. Brad White is not willing to heap a ton of praise on Nichols yet, but the work ethic has stood out, and that could be a sign of great things to come.

“We’re extremely excited about the potential that he has. I will say this — I don’t think there’s anybody that works harder. On the field, off the field. Especially off,” said White. “Off the field, he’s a guy that’s in the building 24/7. He just eats it up. Can’t get enough.”

Blue-chip recruit with a top-tier work ethic should lead to good things for Kentucky. Nichols will likely have a role in the secondary this fall.