If his last two games are any indication of what lies ahead for Kentucky sophomore linebacker DeAndre Square, the’s going to be a recognizable name across the Southeastern Conference soon.
When Jordan Jones was suspended for the Citrus Bowl, Square made his first start as a true freshman and had six tackles, including a quarterback sack, in the win over Penn State to help UK complete a 10-3 season.
He got his second start in last Saturday’s season-opening 38-24 win over Toledo and was the defensive leader with 11 tackles along with his first interception — a pass he deflected and then caught himself. Square also did not allow a single completion to a receiver he was covering, another reason he was named to Pro Football Focus’ Ekrich Team of the Week.
Square became the first UK player since Josh Forrest in 2015 to have at least 10 tackles, one tackle for loss, a quarterback sack and an interception in the same game.
Square wasn’t about to pat himself on the back after the UK defense gave up 24 points.
“We know we can do better,” he said.
He felt the defense “settled down” as the game went on but said there was no panic at halftime.
“It wasn’t frustration, either. We just knew what we had to do in the second half. We just had to play ball, and we did,” Square said.
He was a four-star high school player in Michigan and No. 20 outside linebacker prospect in his recruiting class after making 94 tackles, intercepting two passes and forcing four fumbles as a senior at Cass Tech.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops on Monday said it was “important” that young players like Square made big plays immediately like they did in the first game.
“You’ve heard me talk about it through camp. The strength of our team, you better be the strength, because we have some inexperience, and that showed up Saturday. But I’m confident we’ll get it fixed. That’s the good thing,” Stoops said.
Stoops has a lot of rising stars like Square trying to replace key players off last year’s 10-win team. It had the head football coach joking Monday that he felt like UK basketball coach John Calipari rebuilding his roster.
“When you have the exodus that we had this past year that you have to overcome that inexperience and that’s just the way it is. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for you, right? I mean just ask Coach Cal, right? He’s got to deal with that every year. So it’s hard. I tell him all the time, ‘I don’t know how you do that,'” Stoops said. “It’s hard coaching young guys. It’s tough, it’s a challenge, but we all have to do it and that’s what also makes it a lot of fun, I guess, too.”
Stoops noted after the game that no one who followed UK football was probably surprised by the way Square played because he’s not only bigger and stronger than last year but also understands the defense better.
He’s a playmaker. He’s one of those guys just a good football player. That was a nice competitive play he made out there today (on the interception),” Stoops said Saturday.
His teammates were not shy about praising what he did. Defensive back Jordan Griffin predicted he would be an all-SEC player. Quarterback Terry Wilson said Square would be a “nightmare” for opposing teams.
“He is such a playmaker. He is getting more comfortable going into his second season just like I am,” Wilson said.
Linebacker Josh Paschal said Square gave the team just what it needed.
“He just played lights out. He had great stats, big plays at the right time,” Paschal said.
Square is not UK’s biggest linebacker but he takes pride in having UK receivers describe him as the hardest hitter on the team and likes to “bring a punch” on game day.
“He has really good football knowledge. He can definitely say he can lower the wood on somebody and does a lot,” UK offensive lineman Landon Young said.