As the number of sacks by Florida International against Louisville quarterback Will Stein began to pile up last Friday night, the Kentucky defense perked up like a dog awaiting a milkbone.
“Of course we noticed, and our mouth started drooling a little bit,” linebacker Ronnie Sneed said. “We’re going to try to give the offensive line a rough time by coming with different things. We plan on getting after him. It’s going to be a fun game.”
Stein was sacked six times in the 24-17 home loss to Florida International. The Panthers also broke up five passes and returned an interception 71 yards for a touchdown and an early 7-0 lead.
Kentucky, which is fielding a more aggressive defense under new co-coordinator Rick Minter, has only two sacks in two games. But the Cats have six interceptions, six pass breakups, 11 tackles for loss and allow only 8.0 points per game. The interceptions rank No. 1 in the nation.
“We’re just a team that fights. We have a lot of heart,” Sneed said. “We might mess up on a couple of plays, but if there is a busted assignment you will see 11 guys flying to the ball trying to make up for it.
“There is always room for improvement, but we’ve done a pretty good job,” Sneed said. “But you guys haven’t seen the best of it yet. We’re still improving.”
Stein, generously listed at 5-foot-10, is a mobile quarterback and will have the full attention of Kentucky.
“When you first look at him, he’s not very big in stature,” Sneed said. “But he was all over the field making plays. He’ll give us some fits. They’re going to give us some fits so we’re going to have to come ready to play like we were about to play an SEC opponent.”
Stein completes 62 percent of his passes, many while on the run.
“Being a linebacker, that’s one of the roughest things,” Sneed said. “Coming out of coverage to have to go get a scrambling quarterback kind of drives you crazy. It’s going to be tough. It adds another element to their offense and that’s something we have to prepare for.”
Sneed is prepared for much more than that. Coach Joker Phillips has made it clear since the summer that the veteran defense would have to carry the team until a young offense finds its way.
“We hope it does. We want to carry the team,” Sneed said. “We want our offense to succeed, but we also want them to depend on us. We want to go out and win the game for them. We love it.
“Coach Minter tells us it’s a defensive battle,” Sneed said. “Whichever defense shows up, that’s going to be who wins the game. And we want to be the best defense on the field.”
