Sam Greene's Comeback Is Becoming Kentucky's Defensive Story of the Year

Kentucky linebacker Sam Greene has been named a national Comeback Player of the Week by the College Sports Communicators for his performance in the Wildcats' 35-34 overtime win over LSU. The honor goes to three offensive and three defensive players each week. It's a nice recognition, but it undersells what Greene has meant to this defense through six games.

The comeback part is real

According to UK Athletics, Greene spent much of the offseason rehabbing a major knee injury, and he started the year on the preseason watch list for the national Comeback Player of the Year award. The 6-foot-2, 251-pound senior from Washington, D.C., didn't ease back in. He was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week after Kentucky's win at Texas A&M, where UK Athletics credits him with a crucial fourth-down stop.

Players coming back from serious knee injuries often need half a season to trust their bodies again, especially at an edge position that depends on burst and bend. Greene has looked like a disruptor from the start, and that is the most encouraging sign for Kentucky's defense.

What the LSU game showed

Against LSU, Greene made five tackles, including 1.5 sacks of quarterback Sam Leavitt, per UK Athletics. Five tackles isn't eye-popping on paper. What stands out is the timing. Kentucky's defense held an LSU offense that came in averaging 43.6 points and 547.8 yards to 34 points and 410 yards, according to UK's postgame notes, and allowed just 94 rushing yards, the fewest against an AP top-10 team at home since 2010. Pressure from the edge is part of why LSU couldn't settle in.

The South Carolina game may have been his best

The performance that best explains Greene's value came a week earlier at South Carolina. UK Athletics says he made six tackles, forced two fumbles and added a quarterback hurry as Kentucky came back from a 17-0 second-quarter deficit. That was the largest road comeback in league play in program history. The first of those fumbles, which Kentucky recovered, set up the touchdown drive that started the comeback.

That's the pattern with Greene. The plays that change games are fourth-down stops, strip fumbles and third-down sacks, and they don't always show up in tackle totals.

The season so far

UK Athletics lists Greene with 22 tackles, two tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, an interception, a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry through six games. Two forced fumbles and an interception from an outside linebacker in six games is a big turnover contribution, and it helps explain why Kentucky is +7 in turnover margin this season, per the team's postgame notes.

What to watch in Norman

Greene's next test comes Saturday at Oklahoma, Kentucky's first trip there since 1980, per UK Athletics. The matchup up front is worth watching. WildcatCorner noted that if the Sooners' injury tags hold, Oklahoma could be missing two tackles and two guards, with Michael Fasusi, Fred Hinton, Eddy Pierre-Louis and Heath Ozaeta all listed as questionable. An edge rusher who already has strip fumbles and big sacks on his résumé could have chances against a patched-together line. If Greene wins his matchups early, it could change how Oklahoma calls the game.

Our take

Kentucky's defense hasn't been perfect. It gave up 34 points to LSU and needed overtime in back-to-back weeks. But the Cats have a defender who shows up when a game is tilting the wrong way, and that's hard to coach. If Greene keeps making a couple of game-changing plays a week, he belongs in the conversation for the season-long Comeback Player of the Year award, which is presented at the Fiesta Bowl, according to UK Athletics.

For a player who spent the summer rehabbing, being the defense's most important playmaker by mid-October is a remarkable story.

Big Blue Times is an independent fan site and is not affiliated with the University of Kentucky.

Sources: UK Athletics: Sam Greene named Comeback Player of the Week, UK Athletics: Kentucky-LSU postgame notes, WildcatCorner: availability report, Kentucky Football on X