AUSTIN (KXAN) — After a “feisty” practice Wednesday, No. 3 Texas has to get its offense ready for what head coach Steve Sarkisian calls “an NFL defense,” in the Kentucky Wildcats.
The results don’t suggest that Kentucky has an elite defense, they are 1-6 in Southeastern Conference play at 4-6 overall, but they had the injury bug hit them. Now, some of the main contributors will be available including outside linebacker JJ Weaver and 345-pound defensive tackle Deone Walker. Defensive back Maxwell Hairston returned to the field in last week’s 48-7 win over Murray State, and while he’s listed as out on the initial SEC injury report, defensive back DJ Waller Jr. could also be available.
Sarkisian loved the team’s energy during practice throughout the week, and regarding the feisty nature of Wednesday’s practice, he took a bit of a back seat.
“I said, ‘OK, let’s let this go for a minute,” he said with a smile. “In November, it can feel monotonous to the players, and clearly for our guys it wasn’t. Some of the young guys were competing with the older guys, and I thought that was a great sign for us.”
Sarkisian is impressed with what the Kentucky defense has done under head coach Mark Stoops. They have quite a history, it turns out.
“Mark and I are very good friends. I tried to hire him, actually, when I got the job at Washington. He said yes, and then no saying he couldn’t leave his brother. I have a ton of respect for him as a coach,” Sarkisian said. “It’s a blue collar approach to what they do, they play the game the right way and he’s instilled that in the program. They have an identity and they know how they want to play.”
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Mark and his brother Mike were on the staff at Arizona and competed in the Pac-12 against Sarkisian, and that’s when Sarkisian tried to get Mark on his staff. Mike is a linebackers coach with his brother at Kentucky currently.
“They are tremendous football coaches,” Sarkisian said. “Their teams have always played great defensive football, so sound and disciplined, and they recruit really good looking players. They are an NFL defense with first-round draft picks.”
Sarkisian and Mike Stoops worked together at Alabama as analysts and became friends there.
Kentucky’s lone SEC win came against Mississippi on the road in Oxford, holding the conference’s most prolific offense to 17 points and almost 200 yards under their total offense season average. They lost to Georgia 13-12 and Tennessee 28-18, so they are more than capable of keeping good offensive teams under control. For head coach Stoops, it’s about doing it day in and day out.
“For us, the challenge has been consistency. It’s not been competitiveness,” he said earlier this week. “We’ve been competitive against some of the best teams in the country. We just have to be more consistent. That’s what we’re striving to do and we’re striving to give them our best shot and play our best ball.”
The game is set to kick at 2:30 p.m. and will air on ABC.