Kentucky is 1-0 heading into its game against Missouri on Saturday. While the offense put in a strong shift against UL Monroe behind the efforts of Will Levis, Chris Rodriguez, Josh Ali, and Wan’Dale Robinson, among others, the defense certainly can’t be counted out.

One defender in particular that received plenty of praise from the coaching staff was Octavious Oxendine, as the sophomore registered 5 tackles in the win. He played in 3 games last year while ending up donning a redshirt.

“He’s playing really fast, and the game is slowing down for him,” defensive line coach Anmar Stewart said, according to Cats Illustrated. “I’m really excited for him again this week. It’s just one of those things where let’s see how many back-to-back weeks he can put up because we’re waiting for some of these young guys to step up.”

The praise continued from head coach Mark Stoops, who complimented the preparation the in-state lineman underwent to get himself to this point.

“I thought he played faster than he has in the past,” Stoops said. He’s worked hard in the off-season. He took to the coaching. He scraped and played fast and played with great energy. I was excited about that.”