Trevin Wallace emerges as 'special' leader for Kentucky defense

Mark Stoops said he was “a little anxious to see (Trevin Wallace) cut it loose and go play” ahead of Kentucky‘s season opener vs. Ball State.

“He’s been a good player for us, but right now, being a leader in the middle of that defense and having the physical attributes that he has, he can be special.”

Fast forward to Saturday and the junior linebacker — now a team captain — finished with a team-high 12 tackles (six solo) to go with two tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks. He was a terror from sideline to sideline, looking to impose his will and physicality as the new leader of the defense.

“It seemed like that to me,” Stoops said of his cut-it-loose prediction ahead of kickoff. “He’s sideline to sideline, really explosive. Just a really good player.”

“When Trevin hits you, you feel it.”

Trevin Wallace signed with Kentucky as a consensus four-star prospect in 2021 before earning All-SEC Freshman honors in year one, recording 32 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. He followed it up by racking up 54 tackles as a sophomore, good for fifth-most on the team, while adding 5.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and a quarterback hit.

Just one game into his junior campaign, he’s already hit just short of a quarter of his 2022 tackle total. And it doesn’t appear he’s slowing down anytime soon.

“When Trevin hits you, you feel it,” defensive coordinator Brad White said of Wallace. “That’s something we try to emphasize, being violent on our finishes.”

It wasn’t a perfect performance for the 6-2, 241-pound linebacker out of Jesup, GA. Stoops noticed he missed a running back on a crucial third down, getting ‘dirty eyes’ to allow the conversion.

And Wallace knows he has work to do as he takes over the defense.

“We started off slow in the first half, and in the second half, we also started off slow coming out,” Wallace said. “So, just coming out from the first or second half and telling ourselves to keep going and keep moving.”

Now he has to step up as a motivator beyond producing in the box score. What will his message be going into week two?

“I will tell them to keep pushing,” he said. “Although we won, we want to lead to win like in the past, and continue to work on the mistakes we made.”

A strong start for Wallace, but no time to celebrate. Game prep for Eastern Kentucky begins now.