Usually when a defense gives up more yards than their opponent’s defense, they lose, but that wasn’t the case for UK football on Saturday night in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

The Cats’ defense gave up 110 more yards than Southern Miss’ defense, but they made up for it by forcing four turnovers and slowing down Southern Miss’ main offensive weapon, the running game. The great performance by the defense is what ultimately led to Kentucky’s 24-17 win over Southern Miss.

The offense had its bright spots, such as Stephen Johnson’s two-touchdown performance or tight end CJ Conrad’s big plays, but it was really the defense that carried the load in Saturday’s win.

Specifically it was the run defense that performed well for Kentucky, which has typically been a weak-point on the team in the past. After letting Ito Smith run all over them in last season’s contest, the Cats slowed down Smith to just 37 rushing yards on 16 attempts on Saturday.

Leading up to the game, defensive players said the main goal was to stop Smith, making sure he didn’t repeat the results he produced last year. All that extra time in the film room paid off as Smith was virtually irrelevant most of the game.

Overall, the Cats did a good job slowing down all of the Golden Eagles’ rushers as a whole. Southern Miss rushers only averaged 1.4 yards per attempt, which is the lowest average Kentucky has given up since 2012 when Samford averaged -0.1 yards per rush. 

Another area where the defense excelled on Saturday was the turnover department, as the Cats forced four fumbles in the game after finishing with only seven forced-fumbles last season.

Denzil Ware forced one of those fumbles, and ran another one back for a touchdown that put Kentucky up 24-10 in the third quarter.

What was key about the fumbles was the 14 points the Cats scored off those mishaps. Those 14 points wound up being pretty crucial considering the Cats only won by a touchdown.

“It was a thing of beauty to me,” head coach Mark Stoops said after the game. “I know a lot of people are going to have their own opinions, but I loved it.”

The offense’s performance might have fans worried for the future, but Stoops doesn’t seem to be worried about it. Coaches will likely blame the slow start on first-game nerves and the stress of dealing with rowdy fans on the road. 

The place where fans should be putting their attention is the defense. For most of the Stoops-era, the defense has been the vulnerable part of UK’s football team, but that was not the case Saturday night.

Without the defense’s big-time plays on Saturday, it’s possible the Cats could have came back to Lexington with a different result. 

Usually it would take most, if not all, the season for the defense to figure itself out, but with such positive results coming out of the first game, the defense could be more reliable in games the rest of this season, increasing their chances of making another bowl game.