Alabama may have found a useful edge heading into its Week 2 meeting with Kentucky, and it comes from an unusual place: inside the Tide’s own defensive line room.
The Crimson Tide’s matchup with the Wildcats carries the added wrinkle of a new Kentucky head coach in Will Stein, and Alabama defensive tackle Terrance Green knows that system well. Green spent the last three seasons at Oregon, where Stein served as offensive coordinator, giving the 6-foot-6, 313-pound senior a built-in familiarity with what Kentucky may want to do Saturday.
That knowledge matters because Green expects the Wildcats to lean on the ground game. Kentucky opened the season with 205 rushing yards in a 45-13 win over Youngstown State, with junior Jason Patterson leading the way on 78 yards on 11 carries.
Senior CJ Baxter added 48 yards and two touchdowns on nine attempts. Overall, Kentucky ran the ball 34 times and threw it 27 times.
“They love to run the ball,” Green said. “It's going to be a big week to stop the run. We've just got to play with good pad level, play with our hands, get out of blocks and make plays in the backfield.”
Green said his time around Stein gives him a pretty clear sense of what Kentucky wants to be offensively, even if the Wildcats mix things up along the way.
“I kind of know what he wants to do,” Green said. “I know he's probably going to change it up, but I was with coach Stein for 2-3 years there.
So just going against that every day, going against great O-linemen, that'll help a lot. But also going against our guys here.
Coach (Freddie) Roach is staying on me about my pad level and getting off blocks, so that's going to be big this week.”
Alabama will bring confidence to the matchup after opening with a 48-10 win over East Carolina, a game in which the Tide allowed just two rushing yards. That kind of run defense will be tested again if Kentucky sticks to the script Green expects.
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Former Ducks Are Already Making Oregons Transfer Losses Feel Real
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Makhi Hughes settled in at Houston, Jayden Limar found a place in Washingtons backfield, Kingston Lopa made an impact for California and Luka Moga got a chance to operate New Mexicos offense. Those are only a few of the names to watch, but the broader picture is hard to miss for Oregon: the transfer losses are no longer just a roster-management headache, they are already showing up on Saturdays in ways Duck fans can measure. [Read more 🡒]