Jordan Lovett Taking Over as Starting Free Safety, Moving in "Right Direction"

Kentucky turns to yet another redshirt freshman following Jalen Geiger's injury

After leaving the Florida game with a "lower leg" injury, it sounds as though Kentucky's starting free safety Jalen Geiger will be out for an extended amount of time. 

Geiger was hit by an illegal blindside block in the second quarter of Kentucky's 26-16 win over the Gators, which resulted in the junior being carted off the field. 

"We will do some more evaluations,” Mark Stoops said on Monday. “But again, as I said after the game, it doesn’t look good. It looks like it’s it’s an injury that will keep him out.”

Geiger was not listed on Kentucky's latest depth chart. He is the second Wildcat to suffer a long-term injury, as senior transfer running back Ramon Jefferson tore his ACL in Kentucky's week one win over Miami (OH) and will miss the remainder of the year. 

Stepping up in place of Geiger is redshirt freshman Jordan Lovett. The Radcliff, Ky native made an immediate impact for the Wildcats in Gainesville, as he finished tied for second on the team in tackles with seven. 

“I saw Jordan really improve and take another step in the right direction,” Stoops said. “It’s just getting reps under his belt, getting confidence, communicating, executing, just being more dialed in and that comes from experience. Playing safety, there’s a lot of things that we practice hard, a lot of different shifts, formations. But things change and things change in a hurry. The practice field, reps and experience helps.”

Lovett was a mid-year enrollee last January and eventually redshirted. Coming out of North Hardin High School, he was ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the state of Kentucky and the No. 38 safety in the nation. He didn't begin to play safety until his junior year, where he would finish second nationally with 15 interceptions. 

The 6-foot-2, 202-pounder answered the bell when called upon last weekend in Gainesville, and will likely remain the starter at free safety for the remainder of the season, barring a future good update on the status of Geiger. 

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