Rebel secondary expects to see lots of action against 'Cats

JOEY VAUGHAN
DM Sports Editor

Kentucky's game plan will be no secret to anyone in attendance at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium Saturday night: Throw left, throw right, throw long and throw it some more.

Faced with the possibility of seeing as many as 60 Jared Lorenzen passes, members of the Ole Miss secondary know that the onus will be on them to stop the Wildcat attack, and they say they're ready.

"They're putting up a lot of passing yards each week, so we know it's going to be a big Saturday for the secondary," said Syniker Taylor, junior safety.

"That's how we like it. We'd love for a team to come out and throw it every time, just to make us play."

Senior cornerback Ken Lucas agrees. With the responsibility of defending so many passes comes the chance to shine.

"We know it's going to be a great challenge for the secondary, but from a positive standpoint, it will give us a lot of opportunities to make plays," Lucas said.

The Ole Miss secondary has seen its share of ups and downs this season. The Rebels have seen more passes from opponents than any other team in the conference, and place 10th in the SEC in pass defense, giving up 214 yards per game. There have been times, though, when opposing offenses have found the going tough against a secondary that is growing stronger with experience.

"We play six or seven passing teams this year, so we know most of these games are going to be on our shoulders," Lucas said. "We have to come out ready to play every game. The D line is getting better. Every game we play, they put more and more pressure on the quarterback, and that's going to help us out as the season goes on."

Lorenzen has the arm strength to give the Wildcats a deep passing game, but Kentucky's short game has created problems for opponents by tiring defenses on long, ball-control drives.

"We know that we're going to have to play. It might be 80-90 plays," Taylor said. "We're going to have to be real conditioned to play 60 minutes of fast football."

For all of their success in the passing game, the Wildcats have been absolutely horrible about turning the ball over. Through four games, Kentucky has lost 23 fumbles and four interceptions.

"We know that everybody makes mistakes," Taylor said. "They put it up enough that you know they're going to make more mistakes than the average team. But they're going to catch more than they're going to make mistakes on, so you've got to come out prepared and try to make plays."

Rebel defensive coordinator Art Kaufman says that turnovers aren't something you can try to force.

"We played Vanderbilt, who had not turned the ball over any, and we got four in that game," Kaufman said. "The thing we have to do is just go in there and play and if they come by, we've got to cash in."

Kaufman and his defense have worked on some new looks to give Lorenzen this week, so look for new defensive packages from the Rebels.

"We'll try to carry enough in there that we can stay with them, and we'll try to do some things to confuse their quarterback. He does a good job, and we've got to make him work at it."

The Ole Miss offense hasn't been productive in the least in the fourth quarter of the last two games, a fact that does not bode well for the Rebels' chances against the high-scoring Wildcats, who are averaging 33 points per game. If this game turns into a shootout, the Ole Miss offense will have to stay on the field long enough to allow the defense to get some rest.

Kaufman says that sometimes the defense has to share the blame, though.

"Probably more important is that we get ourselves off the field," Kaufman said. "If we'll get ourselves off the field, the offense has a chance. A lot of times people will say the offense didn't help you out. Well, you've got to get yourself off. If you don't get yourself off, they can't go on. That's the only side we can control."

It's not just the game that's on the line for the secondary, though. Lucas says there's the matter of pride, too.

"I have a lot to prove this year, because I feel like I'm not getting the respect I deserve," he said. "Respect is not given, though, it's earned, so I have to go out there and earn my respect.

"The secondary was ranked in the bottom half of the league last year, and one thing we wanted to do was to come out and prove this year that we're one of the best secondaries out there."