Kentucky football’s defense is making things easier for Heisman Trophy voters. The Wildcats ’ defense has already made pretenders out of potential contenders in Georgia quarterback Carson Beck and Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart .
UK could eliminate a couple more candidates from being high on the watch list when it plays at Tennessee and quarterback Nico Iamaleava and at Texas with either Quinn Ewers or Arch Manning calling the shots.
The Cats are proving to be as tough defensively as their schedule that includes four of the top 10 ranked teams. So far, Kentucky has met the challenge ranking fifth nationally in total defense, allowing 244.2 yards per game.
It’s official.
UK is a defensive team now. It has given the team an identity and consistency after that 31-6 loss to South Carolina in Week 2 left many wondering which way the season would go.
The Cats found their way by coming up with different ways to force opposing quarterbacks out of rhythm.
“It’s just a variety of everything; it’s always a team effort,” UK coach Mark Stoops said.
Beck found it hard to deliver to open receivers because they were blanketed in the secondary. UK totaled three pass breakups — and that doesn’t include Zion Childress’ would-be interception return for a touchdown that replay overturned.
Dart found it harder to throw because the pressure upfront kept him nervous in the pocket. UK registered four sacks and one quarterback hurry.
Ole Miss led the nation in total offense, averaging 670.8 yards per game, but UK just about chopped that cleanly in half, holding the Rebels to 353 yards. The Cats also limited them to 1 for 10 on third-down conversions.
“Defensively, it starts up front definitely; you know it all starts up front,” Stoops said. “We got to be very stout in the run game and try to get in some longer second downs and third downs. I thought (against Ole Miss) that’s the best we’ve done against an opponent like that on third down.”
Stoops was quick to give his offense some credit, too. The Cats dominated time of possession against UGA (35:02 to 24:58) and Ole Miss (39:43 to 20:17), which kept Beck and Dart from having extra possessions.
“It’s not always intentional, but the offense possessing the football and getting first downs just helps everything,” Stoops said. “It helps with field position. It helps defense and, again, that’s not always just our intention to kill the clock or anything like that.”
The Cats didn’t intentionally kill Heisman hopes, either, but here we are.
Beck hovered at around fourth place in the Heisman betting odds , and no one probably predicted that Kentucky would lead to his downfall. But after he completed 15 of 24 passes for 160 yards and no touchdowns, his stock dropped fast.
Though UGA emerged with a 13-12 win, Beck’s passing yardage was the lowest it had been in his 17 games as the Dawgs' starting quarterback.
The Cats took his shine, and he soon had company.
Dart passed for 261 yards against the Cats, which was also his lowest output of the season. He entered the game averaging 388 passing yards per game and three touchdowns. In addition to yardage, UK limited Dart to his lowest number of completions (18) and lowest percentage of completions (66.7) of this season.
The Rebels, who entered with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense with a 55-point average per game, scored a season low in the Cats’ 20-17 upset win. That sent Dart tumbling in the Heisman race from his 5-1 odds to win to being second only to Miami quarterback Cam Ward to dropping out of the top five.
Fortunately for Beck and Dart, they played UK early enough in the season that they have other marquee games that a great performance would vault them up the charts in the eyes of voters. That's also what's daunting for Iamaleava and either of the Texas quarterbacks.
Those games are late in the season, and UK is actively waiting to expand its list of turning a quarterback's hope into nope.
Reach sports columnist C.L. Brown at clbrown1@gannett.com , follow him on X at @CLBrownHoops and subscribe to his newsletter at profile.courier-journal.com/newsletters/cl-browns-latest to make sure you never miss one of his column s.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Brown: Kentucky defense is where Heisman dreams go to die. Ask Carson Beck and Jaxson Dart
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