Southern Miss Quarterback will be a "Big Challenge" for Kentucky Defense

Kentucky will open their 2024 season on Saturday night taking on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles under the lights in Kroger Field. The Golden Eagles have a lot of transfers on this year's roster, and that goes for both sides of the ball. Kentucky Defensive Coordinator Brad White says Southern Miss' transfer quarterback from Florida State, Tate Rodemaker, will be a big challenge for Kentucky's defense on Saturday.

"Good player. Came in when Jordan Travis went down (at Florida State) and played really well," White told media. "He can stand up there, he can deliver it, he can spin it. Tall, he can see over the O-line. He's an adequate mover. He can get around you, but he'd prefer, obviously, to stay in the pocket if he could. I think he's a really good player. Made some really good throws in that Florida game, was doing a great job handling that environment and had the unfortunate with the concussion. Really scrambled great, I mean, he's gonna be a big challenge for us. He's gonna come from a system that he's fairly familiar with."

As far as the offense as a whole, Brad White says it can put stress on defenses, but the players will just have to execute. "It's a system that will stress you with shifts, motions, pre-snap, post-snap. They find ways to get the playmakers the ball. We understand that," White said. "There's gonna be some unique looks that we probably haven't practiced, and our guys are just gonna have to fall back on their rules and execute.

Speaking of execution, White says that has been a focus for the defense heading into the first game, and he's not worried about the unit losing that focus on Saturday. "There's plenty of recent occurrences where if we don't play well, you're in a dog fight for four quarters, and sometimes you're on the wrong end or close to the wrong end. Our guys understand that, I've got no worries about them being a letdown, or looking ahead, or any of that. Their sole focus has been Southern Miss. They've dove hard into it, and we've tried to do a real deep dive. There's a lot of unknowns stepping in. One, because it's the first game. Two, it's a different coordinator. Three, a lot of different personnel. We've got a focus, and that focus has been on us to execute."

Kentucky's defense will look to do just that and execute on each play Saturday night against the Golden Eagles in Kroger Field.