Kentucky football: Fantastic finish making up for unlucky start for safety Darius West

Throughout the history of Kentucky football, like the blues singers put it: If it wasn’t for bad luck, the Wildcats wouldn’t have any luck at all. Darius West is no stranger to that tradition.

One of the top signees of Mark Stoops’ first full-cycle recruiting class in Lexington, West broke his right leg before his senior season of high school at Lima (Ohio) Central Catholic. He broke the bone again, and after looking likely to see time as a true freshman at UK, he injured the same leg in Lexington and had to redshirt his first season.

West managed to stay healthy in 2015 and saw action in 10 games for the Wildcats. But then he injured his left patellar tendon before the 2016 season and was forced to miss that campaign entirely. As West had already redshirted one season due to injury, that season was lost, and when 2017 dawned, he was a player who had spent more time rehabbing injuries than making plays on the field.

Finally, in 2017, West shook off the rust and emerged as a contributor for the Wildcats, racking up 86 tackles from his strong safety position. West often played alongside fellow Ohio product Mike Edwards, a senior who has drawn All-SEC honors in 2017 and the 2018 preseason.

So far in 2018, it’s West who looks like the all-conference player.

“He has a strong mentality and a passion and desire to win,” Stoops said of his senior safety.

West’s 47 tackles not only lead UK, they rank eighth in the SEC. His 8 passes defensed are second most in the SEC, and he is in a four-way tie atop the conference with 3 interceptions. More than raw numbers, West has been the backbone of a surprisingly hard-hitting Kentucky defense. At the biggest moments, West has been a key presence.

For instance, with UK trailing 14-7 in the fourth quarter at Texas A&M on Oct. 6, it was West who came to the rescue.

The @D_1west25 scoop and score concludes our #TopPlays this week! Shout out to @uk_db29 for the forced fumble. ?#GetUp pic.twitter.com/p8DcgBLhJO

— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) October 10, 2018

Not only was his scoop and score his second forced turnover of the game, but on a night when Kentucky’s offense sputtered, it was the Wildcats’ best chance to get back into the game. Kentucky ultimately came up short, but West’s 10 tackles and 2 turnovers loomed large. The fifth-year senior had clearly arrived.

“I love it,” said West after the game of his big plays. “It just makes me want to do better things, to do what I can do to help this team win.”

West is earning a healthy portion of the credit for Kentucky’s massive defensive improvement. In 2016, with an injured West watching from the sidelines, Kentucky gave up 31.3 points and 434 yards per game. In 2017, those numbers improved to 28.2 points and 427 yards. But so far in 2018, led in no small part by West, Kentucky is allowing just 13.8 points and 305 yards per game.

That kind of improvement might look lucky, but West knows that, like himself, the Kentucky team had absorbed its share of hard knocks and is now dealing out a few.

Kentucky defensive backs coach Dean Hood admitted during fall camp, “I think he’s one of those kids that they get to that age and hear that clock ticking, that it’s going bye-bye, and they really grab hold.”

Indeed, West is not only older than most of his teammates, but his life has definitely given him context for the idea that the clock for college football is ticking. West’s son, Keon, provides a motivation missing from most college students.

“That is my baby boy,” West told WKYT in an interview.“He is definitely what drives me.”

So far, West has been driven to new heights — even mentioned in the conversation for All-America honors. It has been a long and arduous path for West, but the payoff is looking pretty sweet for both him and the Wildcats.

Joe Cox

Joe Cox is a columnist for Saturday Down South. He has also written or assisted in writing five books, and his most recent, Almost Perfect (a study of baseball pitchers’ near-miss attempts at perfect games), is available on Amazon or at many local bookstores.