Jordan Lovett "Doing an Admirable Job" at Free Safety for UK

The redshirt freshman free safety is plugging in well in place of Jalen Geiger

Jordan Lovett is one of many redshirt freshmen that Kentucky has asked to pick up a significant workload this season. 

That wasn't the plan at the start of the season, however. But once starting free safety Jalen Geiger went down with a leg injury in UK's win over Florida in week two of the season, it was Lovett who had to step and quickly become an important part of the Wildcats' secondary. 

“Jordan is getting better with every opportunity and getting more confident and getting a good feel for the game. He’s one of those guys who is just playing faster with the snaps under his belt. Very athletic young man and I think has a really bright future,” head coach Mark Stoops said of Lovett on Monday. 

In three games (one start,) the North Hardin High School product has 12 tackles (five solo), which is tied for third on the team, as well as one pass breakup. 

While it's been a good start on the stat sheet, defensive coordinator Brad White is looking for much more from the Radcliff, Ky native: 

"He's stepped in and I think he's doing an admirable job. Is he ultimately where we want him as a player? No, but he's not where he'd want to be and he wouldn't expect that," White said. 

While White is critical of the defensive back, he understands that no one was prepared for Lovett to play starting snaps from week three onward. The nature of college football has a way of throwing young players into the fire, however, and that's just the situation that he finds himself in. 

"This was going to be a year for him to ease himself into the defense and take a little bit of a learning moment. Now, he's been thrust into a starting role," White said. "He's embraced it, he works hard every day and when he makes mistakes, he doesn't take the coaching personal. He takes the coaching, he takes the medicine like coach always says and he tries to correct it for the next play. Proud of him in that regard, but we need to continue to move him along as quick as we can."

Senior Ole Miss transfer Keidron Smith, who carries perhaps more in-game experience than any other player on the roster, applauds Lovett for how well he's made the quick transition, taking on a much heavier workload.

"You saw it in the game this past weekend, he fills right in," Smith said. "With him being also kind of a 'young-older' guy, like I said man, Jordan's doing what he needs to do. He's getting better each and every day, you know, and I also look forward to play with him each and every week."

Maturity has been a big part of what has made Lovett and other freshmen playing big snaps for Kentucky so good early on. There just haven't been many of those classic "freshman mistakes" that stick out like a sore thumb, which is a monumental bonus for a defense that will play in some raucous SEC environments over the course of the season. 

Smith, while appreciative of that maturity from Lovett and others, understands that when they're on the field, there really is no alternative. 

"They don't have a choice," Smith said. "Us older guys, we don't allow no slacking. So you know, when they get out there, they need to know what they need to do." 

White said on Wednesday that his defense was "a long way from great." Kentucky has allowed 29 points so far this season, its fewest in the first three games of a season since 2008. 

If that's a long way from great, then the 2022 Wildcat defense could go down as one of the best in program history if it stays on its current pace. 

Kentucky will look to improve to 4-0 on Saturday night, as it hosts the 1-2 Northern Illinois Huskies at Kroger Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. EST and will air on ESPN2.

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