{"id":431876,"date":"2024-10-16T20:06:09","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T00:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=431876"},"modified":"2024-10-16T20:06:09","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T00:06:09","slug":"kentucky-expected-to-be-without-key-defender-against-florida-per-report","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/kentucky-football\/kentucky-expected-to-be-without-key-defender-against-florida-per-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky expected to be without key defender against Florida, per report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Kentucky Wildcats are gearing up for a tough conference battle against the Florida Gators in Week 8.<\/p>\n<p>The Wildcats lost a heartbreaker to Vanderbilt at home in Week 7 and will be looking to rebound quickly. However, the team will have to do that without one of its best defenders.<\/p>\n<p>According to Matt Zenitz, UK cornerback Maxwell Hairston is not expected to play in Week 8. This will be the third straight game the All-SEC corner has missed due to injury.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">The current expectation is that Kentucky will be without All-SEC cornerback Maxwell Hairston again when it faces Florida Saturday, a source tells <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/247Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@247Sports<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBSSports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSSports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hairston, who has missed the last two games, led the SEC with five interceptions last year.\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9MaMa5lBvC\">pic.twitter.com\/9MaMa5lBvC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Matt Zenitz (@mzenitz) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mzenitz\/status\/1846686686765310402?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Hairston last played in Kentucky&#8217;s Week 4 win over Ohio. The standout DB has collected 8 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 forced fumble so far this season in limited action.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Want to bet on the Cats this Saturday? Check out the SDS guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/sports-betting\/kentucky\/\">Kentucky betting sites<\/a> and land a sign-up offer today!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Even without Hairston, Kentucky has been strong against the pass. The Wildcats are No. 13 in pass defense and are allowing just 162.2 passing yards per game.<\/p>\n<p>As mentioned above, Hairston was an All-SEC player in 2023. The CB collected 68 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and 5 INTs. Two of Harrison&#8217;s 5 INTs were pick-6s.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately for the Wildcats, the Gators are far from the nation&#8217;s best passing attack. With Graham Mertz sidelined, the Gators will start DJ Lagway for this game. Lagway has yet to throw for 100 yards in a game against a non-FCS opponent.<\/p>\n<p>Kentucky and Florida have had similar seasons. Both teams are sitting at 3-3 overall, while the Wildcats are 1-3 in SEC play and the Gators are 1-2. These SEC rivals will kick off from Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kentucky will be without a key defender for another SEC matchup. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":367784,"featured_media":381036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","tags":[],"class_list":["post-431876","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_types-news","teams-kentucky-football"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/431876"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/367784"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431876"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saturdaydownsouth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}