John Clay's Sidelines

Georgia's A.J. Green makes the winning catch Saturday. Photo by David Stephenson.

Writing this morning’s column about the failures of the UK defense brings up the old saw about when is being critical being too critical? They’re just kids, after all. It’s college. Isn’t knocking the team after a tough 42-38 loss to Georgia on Saturday, kicking the Cats while they’re down?

Goes back to one of Michael Kinsley’s axioms when it comes to column writing: “If you worry too much about going too far, then you won’t go far enough.”

Besides, it’s no great shame for this Kentucky defense to fall short of the 1977 edition. That UK defense was better than good. It was really good. It had Art Still, Jerry Blanton, Mike Siganos, Dallas Owens, Mike Martin, just to name a few. It had a terrific coordinator in Charlie Bailey. No team scored more than 21 points on Kentucky that season. Six teams were held to single digits. The Cats shut out Georgia and Virginia Tech back-to-back on the way to a 10-1 record.

The current Kentucky defense started out along the same path, holding Louisville to just two points, Norfolk State to three, Western Kentucky to three. True, Norfolk is a I-AA school and Western is making its way into I-A for the first time, but it’s hard to shut down any opponent for 40 minutes these days, no matter the level. Steve Brown’s unit held up well in the SEC opener at Alabama, technically allowing just 10 points, given that the Crimson Tide’s other touchdown came off a Mike Hartline fumble.

But, even without the two blocked punts that set up short scores in Gainesville, the Kentucky defense did little to stop Florida. In fact, when Brown was asked Saturday if the game was humbling, he replied, “The Florida game should have been humbling.”

The defense played well at Mississippi State, but Mississippi State’s offense is no great shakes. Then came Saturday. And the wheels came off.

Today’s column wasn’t meant to pile on. And maybe it’ll light a fire. Bulletin-board material. Yes, this defense is nowhere near as good as the 1977 edition. But surely it is better than it has played the last month, much better than it played Saturday, even if Georgia has a potent offense. You could tell afterward that Brown felt the same way. He seemed almost at a loss. He seemed eager to get in the film room and figure out what went wrong. He’s right, the Cats have to win these next two games.

To do that, the defense has to play up to its capabilities.