LEX18.com - Lexington, KY

Posted: Oct 4, 2009 8:08 PM
Updated: Oct 4, 2009 8:13 PM

The defense was left to bail the Cats out of several tough spots Saturday against Alabama after the offense turned the ball over four times.

But it was the time the Cats defense failed to stop the Tide when they were pinned deep in their own territory that left defensive coordinator Steve Brown smarting after the game.

Late in the second quarter with UK trailing 7-6, Cats linebacker Micah Johnson exploded through the line and dropped Alabama running back Trent Richardson for what looked like a safety.

Referees ruled that Richardson had made it out of the endzone before being brought down and a replay review upheld the call.

"Even with that happening we probably should not have let them go 97 yards, for God's sake," Brown said of the drive that ended five minutes later with an Alabama touchdown that made it 14-6.

After a long kickoff return set up Alabama's first tochdown only 57 seconds in to the game, The Cats defense stiffened. At a time when it looked like UK was in for a repeat of the dissastrous first quarter they had against Florida one week earlier, the defense forced a punt.

The stop came after UK quarterback Mike Hartline's first of three interceptions gave Alabama the ball in Kentucky territory.

The defense did not have the same success in the first minute of the third quarter following another Hartline interception.

It took Alabama only two plays to go 38 yards for a touchdown after Rolando McClain picked off Hartline's pass.

Seeing the offense struggle took its toll on the defense.

"It's hard, football is a momentum swinging game and momentum means a lot and we had our crowd in at one point and we were doing good things and it was kind of hard to keep fighting," linebacker Micah Johnson said.

Brown said he was pleased with his unit's effort. The Cats were focused on playing quicker and more physical from the start against Alabama after surrendering 31 points in the first quarter against Florida, Brown said.

"We got to try and prevent any of the major mistakes happening so that the wind doesn't come completely out of our sails," he said.

Linebacker Danny Trevethan said that Brown prepares the defense to be ready in case they are called upon more often than they expect, as was the case Saturday.

"Coach Brown always tells us to prepare for war at a time of peace," Trevathan said.

Another Kentucky turnover and an ankle injury to cornerback Trevard Lindley kept the defense on their heals for most of the second half.

Alabama added 10 more points in the third quarter and was able to control the ball and keep the Kentucky offense off the field for much of the final quarter.

"We did some things to try to protect our corners because of their youth and we just had some mental errors by some other guys," Brown said. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't, it was that kind of deal."

The going does not get too much easier for Kentucky. After hosting two top three teams at home in the last two weeks, Kentucky hits the road to face no. 25 South Carolina on Oct. 10.

"The main thing is that we continue to get better and better. I think our kids came out and played better initially...Next week presents it's own challenges but right now we have to think about how we can get better from [the Alabama game] and learn from it and go forward."