First Down Kentucky: Ohio's running back and Deone Walker's impact

ZGeogheganKSR

Good evening, folks. No, I am not Nick Roush or Adam Luckett. But I am Zack Geoghegan, and I made the quick trip over to the Kentucky football practice field earlier today to chat with defensive coordinator Brad White and a couple of the Wildcats’ linebackers alongside the rest of my media friends.

White was joined by outside linebacker JJ Weaver and inside linebacker D’Eryk Jackson for today’s media session. The Ohio Bobcats are Kentucky’s next opponent, so all three talked plenty about what to expect on Saturday afternoon at Kroger Field, among several topics.

Let’s dive into their interviews and see what we can take away from today’s conversations.

Ohio’s running back earns high praise

Kentucky has been particularly dominant when defending the rush through three games this season. The Wildcats rank 8th in the country, allowing just 62 rushing yards per game. White’s squad will face another tough task on the ground this weekend in grad student Anthony Tyus III.

Tyus has 367 net rushing yards — a top 10 mark in the nation — so far this season with four touchdowns. His 7.5 yards per carry has made him tough to bring down. White compared Tyus to former NFL MVP running back Adrian Peterson.

“You mention the running back, who I think is really, really gifted and talented,” White explained. “His running style is sort of Adrian Peterson-like where it’s the high-cut nature. They’re just so hard to tackle and he’s got this unbelievable ability to one-cut and most long-legged guys don’t. Long-legged guys usually take some time to break down and cut. He can put his foot in the ground and get vertical right now.”

White made sure to add that, obviously, Tyus is not as good at Peterson, but that their “running styles” matched each other. White did face Peterson when he was coaching defense for the Indianapolis Colts years ago, so he’s not just (totally) blowing smoke.

Deone Walker drawing doubles and triples

Deone Walker is a likely first-round NFL Draft pick whenever he decides to leave the college ranks. But through three games, his on-paper numbers don’t jump off the page: seven tackles (six solo) and one pass breakup are all he’s been credited with, per UK’s statistics.

However, Walker is making a significant impact on every single play for Kentucky’s defense. He’s been seeing constant double and even some triple-teams against opposing offensive lines. That’s opened up opportunities for everyone else to eat on White’s defense, which has been playing at a very high level early in the season.

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“I think he’s been great,” White said of Walker. “He has been influencing each and every game we play. I don’t know what the outside world is perceiving his season as, but I know inside our building, we think he’s playing at a really high level. He’s affecting quarterbacks, he’s affecting the run game, he’s making a ton of plays inside, he’s able to play anywhere from the 0 all the way out to a five.”

When Walker is in the game, Kentucky is simply a better team.

Sack ‘Em Soles making some noise

Linebacker Steven “Sack ‘Em” Soles was ranked just inside the Top 1,000 among class of 2024 recruits out of high school. But he’s outplayed that ranking early into his true freshman season. Soles has already seen action in all three games and was credited with a tackle for loss late in the blowout loss to South Carolina. He made some notable plays against Georgia, as well.

“His twitch and his explosion. You can feel it. He rushes violently,” White said of Soles. “It affects the pocket quickly and that’s a big deal if you’re a quarterback and you feel early in your drop, that the pocket is getting shaken… It throws the timing off of routes. He needs to continue to be impactful in ways and continue to grow within this defense.”

“Sack ‘Em Soles, my young (number) 35, he’s getting better every day and helping me,” Weaver added.

It certainly doesn’t feel like a redshirt is in the future for Soles this season.

What’s the deal with the loose fumbles?

Kentucky opponents have fumbled the ball seven times through three games this season, and yet the Wildcats have yet to snag one off the field. Grabbing one or two of those could have UK looking at a 2-1 record instead of 1-2. But a lot of it has simply been the luck (or lack of it) of the bounce on the ball.

“Not really. The one from a technical standpoint that you say we could have potentially done better, may have been the one in South Carolina on Zion(Childress)‘s,” White said when asked if there’s anything his team can do differently on loose fumbles. “But a lot of them have just store of bounced in different directions, not so much that we’ve fumbled them back away or sometimes guys are trying to scoop and score and they kick the ball. We haven’t really had those. We just haven’t had any of those easy bounces.”

Weaver says that recovering fumbles has been a focus this week in practice. Kentucky is doing a great job of jarring the ball loose, they just need some of that fumble luck to finally go their way.