UK football stock watch: Wildcats’ defensive depth was on display in win at Ole Miss

The weekly Kentucky football stock watch looks at who is rising and who is falling for the Wildcats after a monumental upset win at No. 6 Ole Miss.

RISING: Cornerback depth

The size of the challenge against an Ole Miss offense that ranked at or near the top of the country in almost every statistical category entering the weekend already looked daunting for Kentucky, but when news broke Friday that star cornerback Maxwell Hairston, a top-50 2025 NFL draft prospect, would be unavailable it would have been understandable to panic.

After all, one of the biggest questions on the roster entering the season was which cornerback would emerge to start opposite Hairston and earlier in the week UK coach Mark Stoops had called the play of the other Wildcats at the position a “work in progress.”

But against Ole Miss, cornerbacks JQ Hardaway, DJ Waller and Terhyon Nichols held their own, playing key roles in the win.

“I think all our guys are like that,” defensive coordinator Brad White said. “I think everybody on that defense, and even in that locker room — offense, defense, special teams — they’re in there for a reason. They want to play. They don’t want to sit there and be a backup.

“They understand that there’s a development phase and a process to it, and only 11 guys at a time can play, but if they weren’t ready for that challenge, or they weren’t itching for that opportunity, then they’re probably in the wrong locker room.”

Hardaway, who has started every game this season, was particularly impactful by forcing a fumble in the red zone that ended an Ole Miss scoring opportunity in the second half. He led the team with 11 tackles.

The forced fumble came just two plays after Hardaway had been beaten for a 38-yard completion to Ole Miss star Tre Harris.

“I think it just says a lot about him,” Stoops said. “Just keep on playing. We’ve talked about that all week. Just grind out, win your one-on-ones. They’re going to win some. We got to win some as well.”

Harris more than backed up his hype with 11 catches for 176 yards and one touchdown, but Kentucky’s defensive backs were not overwhelmed by the matchup.

Waller, a Michigan transfer who was slowed by an injury in preseason camp, started in place of Hairston. Nichols, a freshman, played through an injury suffered during the game. Both were credited with crucial pass breakups on deep balls.

Hairston’s status moving forward is uncertain. He has been dealing with a shoulder injury for the first month of the season, but Hardaway confirmed social media speculation that Hairston watched Saturday’s game from the hospital. Hardaway’s comments came after Stoops had addressed the media, so there was no additional information about why Hairston was in the hospital.

Kentucky’s defense is still best when Hairston is available, but there is at least reason now to believe the secondary can continue its strong play if he misses more time.

RISING: Redemption stories

After Kentucky’s home loss to South Carolina, Stoops criticized his team for its response to adversity. While he later clarified that his film review of the game revealed the effort from players was there but the execution was not, it was still a blow to watch how that game spiraled out of control.

Against Ole Miss, multiple Wildcats showed the progress made in responding to adversity since the South Carolina game.

Hardaway’s forced fumble was one example.

Wide receiver Barion Brown bounced back from an embarrassing unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that killed a late drive by making the biggest play of his career with a 63-yard gain on fourth-and-7 to set up the game-winning touchdown.

“That just shows his maturity,” Stoops said. “I mean, no, we don’t want that (penalty). It’s totally unacceptable. He knows that, but a year ago, maybe he wouldn’t have bounced back like he did when people get on him, when people talk to him and coach him.

“He wanted to come back and make a play for his team. He did. Just proud of him for responding. Not proud of the penalty.”

The only player receiving as much heat as Brown on social media when it looked like Kentucky was going to fall short in Oxford was tight end Josh Kattus, who had been spotlighted for multiple blocking miscues and a dropped pass in a critical moment.

But like Brown, Kattus bounced back to provide one of the biggest plays of the game by recovering Gavin Wimsatt’s goal-line fumble and falling forward for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” Stoops said when asked about how his team responded to adversity in Oxford. “The way we’ve been since that (South Carolina) game. … Was just messy play (against South Carolina). It was just messy. And that’s a direct reflection on me, and that hurt bad. I don’t want to be looked at that way. I don’t want our teams to look like that. We may win and we may lose, but we’re gonna play the game the right way.”

FALLING: Punting

It’s difficult to find many complaints in one of the biggest wins in program history, but there was at least one development that is worrisome for a Kentucky team that will clearly be in close games more often than not.

One week after UT Martin transfer Aidan Laros appeared to quiet concerns about UK’s punting, it became clear why Stoops had not handed Laros the starting job out of camp.

Against Ole Miss, Laros averaged 42.8 yards per punt on five punts. That distance was an improvement over former starter Wilson Berry’s early-season performance, but three of Laros’ four second-half punts went for less than 40 yards. The one that went longer was boomed 53 yards but returned 17 yards.

Berry also punted once from midfield. The hope was his lack of distance would not be an issue from that spot and he could direct the ball well enough to pin the Ole Miss offense in poor field position, but his punt went just 33 yards, giving Kentucky just 3 extra yards of field position versus a touchback.

Laros clearly has the leg strength to be a weapon, but the consistency has to improve. With Kentucky’s offense still not working at peak efficiency, field position is going to be critical and the punters have to play their part.

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