The Stats Behind the Success of the Kentucky Defense

Kentucky is good at playing defensive football. For the generation that grew up watching defenders tackle air while playing for a defensive coordinator that couldn’t figure out how to call plays with wristbands, the success of the Wildcats under Mark Stoops and Brad White is unfathomable. Instead of winning with gimmicks, the Cats are doing it with hard-nosed, disciplined defensive football.

Since White was promoted from outside linebackers coach to defensive coordinator in 2019, the Wildcats have posted the best pass defense in the SEC twice. Ten former players have been selected in the NFL Draft, including a couple of first round selections, Josh Allen and Jamin Davis. The Cats have checked a lot of boxes, but there’s really only one that matters to Brad White, scoring defense.

“It doesn’t matter how many yards they have. It doesn’t matter in any other stat, if they’re scoring points, they’re scoring points,” White shared with KSR.

It’s reflected in the numbers. Kentucky has been a top four scoring defense in the SEC in three out of the last four years, typically landing them in the Top 25 nationally.

Kentucky Defense by the Numbers under Brad White

Numbers in parenthesis are where the Wildcats finished in the SEC, according to CFBStats.

	2019	2020 (*Covid)	2021	2022
Scoring Defense	19.3 (4)	25.9 (5)	21.7 (4)	19.2 (3)
Pass Defense	167.8 (1)	224.6 (1)	218.6 (8)	170.8 (2)
Run Defense	154.3 (11)	156.1 (6)	122.08 (4)	140.6 (6)
Yards per Game	322.2 (4)	380.7 (4)	340.7 (4)	311.4 (2)
3rd Down	38.5 (9)	42.5 (8)	38.8 (9)	33.3 (3)
Red Zone TD%	60.6 (10)	65.9 (10)	65.8 (11)	54.5 (6)

Points of Emphasis

Scoring defense is the name of the game, the end all be all. To reach that final goal, there are other pieces to the equation. Each offseason, one subpar statistic from the year prior will become his unit’s new point of emphasis.

“The things that you focus the most on, you tend to get the most return because you can’t emphasize everything. You can try. Going into last year we had not been great on third down statistically. We made stops when we needed to, but statistically over the course of the season, we had been more in that 8, 9, 10 range (in the SEC rankings) when it came to third down,” said White.

“We really focused on being a good third down defense last year, and it paid dividends. We were third in the conference and almost second (nationally) in third down defense and that was the best we’d been by far since I’ve been here, even in comparison to the ’18 team. It also made us the leader in first down defense because if they don’t convert on third, they’re not getting first downs. It sort of works hand in hand. If they’re off the field and don’t have opportunities to extend drives, well then it’s going to help your scoring defense.”

Therein lies the heart of White’s defensive philosophy. While certain situational statistics are significant, they only are because of how they impact what’s most important: stopping the other team from scoring points. That is why red zone touchdown percentage is a big deal. Even if you can’t stop the other team from moving the ball, at least make them kick the ball.

“If they had 10 possessions, and they had to kick 10 field goals, that’s 30 points if they made ’em all. That means all they would need is to go 50% on touchdowns and they’d have more points. We talk about, just force field goals. If we can be under 50% touchdown percentage, that’s sort of our goal. That’s the objective, force field goals. They’re not going to make em all. Unfortunately, last year they made just about every field goal, and I think three kickers set personal records in distance against us. We just couldn’t buy one last year,” White chuckled.

“But that’s what I’m proud of. When you get in the red zone, rise up, force field goals and it keeps you in the game.”

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