Kentucky
Kentucky’s defensive front shows off depth in win over Toledo
Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops told us that the strength of Kentucky’s team would be the team in 2025. Kentucky defensive coordinator Brad White told us that the defense was going to lean into its depth more than it had in the past.
That all played out in the Week 1 win over Toledo.
UK’s defense controlled the game and kept Toledo out of the endzone until the fourth quarter. While the game was very much still in the balance early, the Cats found a way to make some key plays in high-leverage moments. Players you wouldn’t think of a top contributors stepped up in some key moments.
Kentucky showed off its defensive depth on Saturday at Kroger Field. KSR is taking a look at the three biggest plays from Saturday’s slugfest.
Sam Greene’s bull rush creates a big takeaway
Kentucky had a big need to fill at EDGE in the offseason. USC transfer Sam Greene became the program’s first addition from the transfer portal in December. The redshirt sophomore earned playing time last year in the Big Ten and flashed as a physical player who run with power and could be a real asset against the run. The pass rush needed development, but Green showed the ability to impact the game with a bull rush.
That showed up in the first game of the season. Greene’s pass rush win in the first quarter helped lead to the first takeaway of the season.
On a second-and-10, Greene gets under the pads of Toledo right tackle Cole Rhett and drives the second-year starter back into quarterback Tucker Gleason‘s lap. There isn’t any contact made with the quarterback but the pressure likely has something to do with the inaccurate throw. Veteran cornerback JQ Hardaway beats Toledo wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph to the spot for the game’s first big play.
Kentucky would take a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the game just seven plays later. A young player not known for his pass rush helped flip this football game early.
Steven Soles Jr. helps create quick change stop
Following a goal-to-go stop by the Kentucky defense, Zach Calzada and the Kentucky offense took possession of the ball at their own two with 13:13 left in the second quarter. The Cats held a 7-0 lead just before disaster struck.
Calzada took a safety on a poor RPO read and gave the football right back to Toledo’s offense just one play after an 11-play drive by the Rockets. The road team had some real momentum for the first time in this football game after that play.
Kentucky’s defense quickly bowed up.
The Cats quickly forced a third-and-eight before sophomore Steven Soles Jr. produced his splash big play of the season.
The undersized outside linebacker beats Cole Rhett with an outside rush move where an inside shoulder dip helps Soles turn the corner. Once he’s at the top of the rush, Soles is able to get his hand on Tucker Gleason’s throwing arm and dislodges the football. Kentucky is unable to pounce on the loose ball, but this pass rush win creates a quick win for the defense when Toledo had a chance to flip the game.
Kentucky’s backup outside linebacker came up big on a huge third down.
Tavion Gadson creates a turnover on downs
Just one possession after taking a safety, Zach Calzada connected with tight end Willie Rodriguez for a 23-yard gain on second-and-seven to set up the Kentucky offense just outside the red zone. Unfortunately for the Cats, Toledo star safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren punched the football out and gave the Rockets the football back.
Toledo quickly advanced the football to midfield following a 13-yard completion from Tucker Gleason to tailback Chip Trayanum. Head coach Jason Candle would call the former Kentucky running back’s number again on fourth-and-short a few plays later.
Kentucky bowed up again. Backup defensive lineman Tavion Gadson shows up in a big moment.
The redshirt sophomore shoots the gap to replace the pulling right guard and fights through the center’s block. Sam Greene does a good job of knocking the playside tight end back at the same time. The lead fullback gets caught in no man’s land while Gadson strains to finish the play. That effort leads to a tackle for loss that gets the defense off the field.
Kentucky would add three points on the very next possession to take an eight-point lead. The Cats would never lead by less than eight for the rest of the game. Gadson’s effort play is a big reason why UK was able to keep Toledo at arm’s length.
We saw the defensive depth show up in big moments on Saturday. Sam Greene, Steven Soles Jr., and Tavion Gadson are each players with three years of eligibility remaining who will have key roles this season and in the future for this defense. Each looked the part on Saturday.
Kentucky
Several people hurt in Western Kentucky Parkway multi-car accident, officials say
MUHLENBERG, Ky. (WFIE) – Kentucky officials says there are multiple people injured in a three-car accident on Western Kentucky Parkway.
According to a post made by the Central City Fire Department, three vehicles were involved in a crash between the 64 and 65 mile markers eastbound of the parkway.
They say both the eastbound and westbound lanes are closed at this time. The closure should last around 3 hours.
Two people were extricated from a vehicle. Four adults and three juveniles are being taken to the hospital. No update has been given on their conditions.
They say a mass casualty incident was declared, and Ohio County Fire and EMS were called to the scene due to the number of patients.
We will update you when we learn more.
Copyright 2025 WFIE. All rights reserved.
Kentucky
2027 top in-state prospect talks about his Kentucky unofficial visit on Tuesday
Kentucky’s recruiting efforts in the 2026 class have hit a current rough patch, but things are looking promising in the 2027 class, as the staff has already casted a very wide net in the class, with a number of top targets in the fold. As they’re continuing to pursue mostly national targets, a local star is now on the staff’s radar.
2027 in-state guard Braxton Keathley, one of the state’s top prospects even regardless of class, took an unofficial visit to Kentucky on Tuesday for the game against NC Central. Keathley is native of Martin County, KY, and has took the state by storm as he has really stuffed the stat sheet. Just recently, he dropped a triple-double of 34 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds last weekend.
The Kentucky staff has certainly seemed to take notice really quickly. He’s also getting plenty of other interest, too, including having frequent contact with Louisville, LSU, Purdue, South Carolina, and Florida State, plus offers from Eastern Kentucky, UT Martin, Ohio, and Bowling Green, among others. Keathley sat down with Kentucky Wildcats on SI to talk about his recent visit to Kentucky. What were his impressions of the staff? He shared a conversation he had with them before Tuesday’s game. He also had some interactions with others, too.
“They really talked about how well I scored it and how they’ve been hearing about me for a long time,” Keathley said of his conversation with the Kentucky staff. “One of the (Kentucky) assistants mentioned he had a coaching friend tell them that they better jump on me quick cause I was really good. I had several fans come up to me and take pictures. Jack Givens welcomed me and talked to me for a little bit and said he’s highly impressed with my game and plans on coming to a game soon. A couple of other UK players came up, they were really nice and said they been keeping up with me.”
As a Kentucky kid, Keathley says he been a fan of the Wildcats since he was little, even getting to train with Tyrese Maxey this summer, and he also had some great things to say about what he saw from fellow Kentucky natives and current Wildcats Trent Noah, Jasper Johnson, and Malachi Moreno. “I looked up to players like Tyler Herro, SGA, Tyrese Maxey, Devin Booker, Malik Monk and Reed Sheppard. I got lucky that I got to train with Maxey for a week in August,” Keathley said. “I saw Trent Noah last night having great energy and keeping a smile on his face during warmups. You could tell he loved every minute wearing that Kentucky uniform. He cares and it shows. I saw Jasper and Moreno warming up hard. The one thing about it, and my dad always told me, it’s a different place. You got to be special to play there and be willing to accept everything that comes with wearing that jersey.”
Interestingly enough, Keathley’s dad coached former Kentucky greats Anthony Epps and Wayne Turner after their time at Kentucky, so Keathley has a family history of being around all that comes with the passion of Kentucky basketball. What did Keathley’s dad learn about the two former Wildcats he got the privilege to coach? “He said they carried a chip on their shoulder and were great leaders always humble but tough. and I have to do the same.” Now, for Keathley, it’s about climbing the ranks nationally. “A couple (recruiting services) don’t have me ranked yet and that’s ok. I’m going to walk in the gym every night and know I outworked you and I’m going to outplay you,” he said. “I’m going to compete like every game is a championship. I’m going to to play with the same passion that the fans have. I’m always all in there’s no going back or in-between.”
Keathley has so much passion for his community in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky, and he has plans of doing big things at Martin County. He also shared a message Trent Noah’s dad had for him during their interaction at Tuesday’s Kentucky game. “Something he said that really stuck out. ‘Us mountain people have got to stick together.’ He’s right, Eastern Kentucky has great people and basketball players. Kentucky basketball as whole, we got to stick together through the highs and lows. That’s what we do.”
That’s a great message from a parent of a current Wildcat who was in his shoes before, being a fellow native of that part of the state. The Kentucky staff is certainly going to keep an eye on him as he continues the impressive run he is on so far this season, because he just continues to catch more and more people’s attention with his play.
Kentucky
Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie introduces legislation for U.S. to leave NATO – UPI.com
Dec. 10 (UPI) — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, a Republican serving a House district in Kentucky, introduced legislation for the United States to pull out of NATO.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican from Florida, posted on X that she would be a co-sponsor of the Not a Trusted Organization Act, or NATO Act. Utah Republican Mike Lee introduced the same legislation in the Senate earlier this year.
“NATO is a Cold War relic,” Massie said in a statement Tuesday. “We should withdraw from NATO and use that money to defend our own country, not socialist countries.
“NATO was created to counter the Soviet Union, which collapsed over 30 years ago. Since then, U.S. participation has cost taxpayers trillions of dollars and continues to risk U.S. involvement in foreign wars.”
He added: “Our Constitution did not authorize permanent foreign entanglements, something our Founding Fathers explicitly warned us against. America should not be the world’s security blanket – especially when wealthy countries refuse to pay for their own defense.”
NATO was founded in 1949 by 12 members as a military alliance involving European nations, as well as the U.S. and Canada in North America. There are now 32 members, with Finland joining in 2023 and Sweden in 2024.
The NATO Act would prevent the use of U.S. taxpayer funds for NATO’s common budgets, including its civil budget, military budget and the Security Investment Program.
Article 13 of the North Atlantic Treaty allows nations to opt out.
“After the Treaty has been in force for 20 years, any Party may cease to be a Party one year after its notice of denunciation has been given to the Government of the United States of America, which will inform the Governments of the other Parties of the deposit of each notice of denunciation,” the treaty reads.
During the last NATO summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, President Donald Trump told reporters he agrees with NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense treaty.
“I stand with it. That’s why I’m here,” Trump said. “If I didn’t stand with it, I wouldn’t be here.”
Article 5 was invoked for the first time after the 9/11 attacks in the United States, leading to NATO’s involvement in Afghanistan.
The Kentucky Republican, who calls himself a “fiscal hawk” and a “constitutional conservative,” has been at odds with Trump on several issues, including fiscal spending, foreign policy/war powers, government surveillance and transparency.
Trump has also been critical of NATO.
During his 2016 election campaign, Trump called the alliance “obsolete.”
He urged nations to spend at least 3.5% of gross domestic product on core defense needs by 2035.
In June, NATO allies agreed to a new defense spending guideline to invest 5% of GDP annually in defense and security by 2035.
Five nations were above 3% in 2024: Poland at 4.12%, Estonia at 3.43%, U.S. at 3.38%, Latvia at 3.15% and Greece at 3.08%. In last is Spain with 1.28% though Iceland has no armed forces and Sweden wasn’t listed.
Some Republican senators want stronger involvement in the alliance, including Joni Ernst of Iowa and Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi. Wicker is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
For passage, a House majority is needed, but 60 of 100 votes in the Senate to break the filibuster and then a majority vote. Trump could also veto the bill.
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