The Red, Blue, and Mr. WhiteBy Charlie Leffler

It’s like the old riddle, only with a twist.

What’s Blue and Red and White all over?

This year’s Louisville Kentucky football game.

It was the fiery redness of the Cardinals domination of a Wildcat team that was feeling blue by the end of the game. But it seemed like no matter where you looked you saw White. Dewayne White.

The sophomore defensive end from Marbury Alabama had not been happy with his performance after the New Mexico State game. In fact he was so upset when the team reviewed the film that he refused to talk to anyone. He spent the week concentrating on what he need to do to get back to the specular form he displayed during his freshman year.

Coming into the Kentucky game White has once more regained the attitude that made him a stand-out last season. He finished the game with twice as many tackles as anyone else on the Louisville team by amassing 12 solo stops and one assisted tackle. Three of the tackles totaled for losses of 12 yards.

“From the get-go we were confident that we were going to come out here and have a good game,” White said. “Constantly in the face of the quarterback, no matter where the Wildcat offense turned, White appeared to be there. “I thought Dewayne was all over the field,” said head coach John L. Smith. “Dewayne I thought, played pretty darn good.”

While not speaking of White directly, UK quarterback Jared Lorenzen probably still had visions of the 6’2″ 280 pound end bearing down on him. “The defensive line was tough and stayed in my face,” said Lorenzen. “The defensive backs are very fast. They played well today.”

White’s confidence was evident after the game when he was asked at what point he thought they had the game locked up. “I got them when we first walked out. I knew we was going to come out and play hard.”

White said he took particular offense at the comments by Kentucky players that were showing up in the papers. “We took that to heart,” said White. “They didn’t have a good season last year and I didn’t feel like they had any place to talk.”

Yet White is not the kind of player to desire the spotlight. He assessed that his solid performance was only a part of the defensive unit as a whole. “I feel like we showed everybody what Louisville defense is all about,” White said, “and going to get back hopefully where we were last year, against rushing, passing, turnovers, sacks, and everything.”

Now that he is back in form, opponents will have to keep their eyes open or they could end up getting “White-washed” by the player who will run them down and introduce himself as, Mr. White.