Lane Kiffin says Kentucky has an NFL Defense

Lane Kiffin has become averse to rat poison. After Mark Stoops laid some out for the Ole Miss football team, the Rebels’ coach returned the favor.

The Kentucky defense has received plenty of praise as of late. Following a 35-point loss to the Wildcats, Ohio head coach Tim Albin said he did not see a weakness on the UK defense. Kiffin gave the Cats another pat on the back when previewing Saturday’s matchup at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

“This will be very challenging. These guys took Georgia down to the wire and ran for over 200 yards. These guys are really good and when they’re motivated to play, they play really good,” said the Ole Miss head coach.

“They have really good length on defense, great size and length, and so they’re able to play with Georgia… When you don’t have size and length on defense, you struggle against Georgia or Alabama. They very much look like an NFL defense from a structure and from a size standpoint in coverages and techniques. It’s why a lot of people struggle against them and games seem more like NFL games. It’s hard to make yards. It’s hard to run the ball.”

Kentucky Excels at Stopping the Run

Running the ball hasn’t been easy for any of Kentucky’s opponents this fall. The Bobcats only rattled off 3.5 yards per carry last week and it was the best performance by a UK opponent all season. Kentucky ranks 10th in rushing yards allowed per game (74.75) and seventh in run defense success rate (52.5%).

The Kentucky defense is disruptive behind the line of scrimmage. Havoc rate is a statistic that measures how often a team creates a turnover or tackle for loss on a down-to-down basis. The Cats rank in the 97th percentile nationally, creating havoc on 18.8% of their defensive snaps. Their success starts up front.

“In the SEC every week, you’re going to play at least one really unique, high-draft pick, front seven-type defensive player. This is a good example of it with this inside guy (Deone Walker) that’s a problem. He’s 6-7, 330, and can rush. He’s a perfect example of the SEC type of problem players up front,” said Kiffin.

Oddly enough, Deone Walker gets most of the press clippings, but he hasn’t been the most productive player in the front seven. Granted, much of that is because he’s also getting the attention of double teams from opponents. But Tre’vonn Rybka deserves some praise for his start of the season. He has 2.5 TFLs, while J.J. Weaver has been exceptional in the pass rush, tallying 2.0 sacks (not including getting bamboozled by officials with no-calls on holds).

Slowing down the most productive offense in America is no small task. This Kentucky defense has shown that it’s capable of stopping the run against the best of the best. If they make Ole Miss one-dimensional in Oxford, things could get interesting for Lane Kiffin and Co.