Report Card: Defense shortened out late

By Annie Dunbar

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Statistics show that defensive guru Mark Stoops has taken his teams to the next level defensively by the close of his second season.

However, with UK, he failed to do so.

During his time at Arizona from 2004-2009, Stoops turned a defensive unit that was 109th in the nation in total defense to a highly-ranked squad by the end of his term.

When Stoops was defensive coordinator at Florida State from 2010-2012, he took a team that was ranked 108th in the NCAA in total defense and churned out one of the best in college football. The Seminoles were third-best in the nation in total defense by the end of the 2012 season.

However, the Cats have been a different story. UK’s defense started the season allowing 907 rushing yards and 1,149 passing yards in the first six games. Then they ended the season on a steady decline. In UK’s final six games, most in conference play, the Cats allowed 1,387 rushing yards and 1,440 passing yards. The defense gave up six rushing touchdowns in the first half of the season and 14 in the latter half. Also, opponents scored seven passing touchdowns in the first six games and notched 15 in the final six.

Midway through the season, there was a noticeable decline in the Cats’ performance as they dug themselves in a hole they could not climb out of to become bowl eligible.

Looking ahead to next season, the question of whether or not Stoops and defensive coordinator D.J. Eliot can get the defense up to SEC standards is hard to answer. The Cats will lose two of their best players in defensive ends Bud Dupree and Za’Darius Smith and, at this point, do not have any experienced ends to replace them outside of sophomore Jason Hatcher.

Dupree and Smith started in all 12 games. Dupree led the defensive line with 45 solo tackles and 29 assisted for a total of 74 tackles on the season. He also led the SEC in tackles among his fellow defensive lineman. Smith was close behind with 26 solo tackles and 35 assisted, tallying 61 tackles on the season. Hatcher saw action in 11 games and finished the season with 20 solo tackles, eight assisted for a total of 28 on the season.

Throughout the 2014 season, the defensive line had a solid performance but the linebackers and secondary continuously struggled despite a strong start. Overall, the defense receives a C+.