ESPN College Football

When listing the reasons his defense has gotten stronger lately, Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly made sure to include this one: "Mike Mickens stopped reading his press clippings."

	Frank Victores-US PRESSWIRE
	All-Big East CB Mike Mickens has 12 career interceptions.

Kelly clearly wasn't happy with his All-Big East cornerback earlier this season. Even after Mickens returned an interception 72 yards for a touchdown against Miami of Ohio, Kelly wouldn't allow him to speak to the media afterward. The senior preseason All-American candidate was resting on his laurels too much, the coach thought.

"He needed to get back to the fundamentals that got him to this point," Kelly said. "And that is, he worked his butt off in practice and paid attention to the details.

"(He relaxed) because he's 21 years old. He'd been at the Playboy All-American party. If I put myself in his shoes, I'd probably be the same way."

But Mickens is back in Kelly's good graces through his recent efforts, and not coincidentally the entire Cincinnati defense has greatly improved. In their last three games, the Bearcats have given up fewer than 12 points per game, a trend they hope to continue Saturday at Connecticut.

It's a veteran group that returned most of its top playmakers from a year ago, none more important than Mickens, an NFL prospect with 12 career interceptions. I asked him if he agreed with Kelly's assessment that he'd gotten caught up in his own publicity.

"If that's what coach says, then I guess I was," Mickens said. "I wasn't playing my best at the beginning of the year, but I think I've come on strong lately. I'm just watching film and doing what I normally do, which is get to the ball and make plays."

Cincinnati tied for the national lead with 42 takeaways last season. This year, the defense has created just nine turnovers through six games, the same number that the offense has given away. It's hard to duplicate huge turnover numbers two years in a row, and Kelly said his defense had to realize that early on.

"We had a lot of veterans, but we weren't playing together," he said. "Now I think everyone knows their roles and we've started to find our own identity. We were being talked about for leading the country in turnovers. Well, that was 2007. We're finally starting to feel like, 'Here's who we are.'"

The Bearcats learned the hard way at Oklahoma in the second week of the season, when the high-powered Sooners offense racked up 592 yards on the way to a 52-26 victory. Kelly said that game gave his team a good chance to analyze and assess where it was defensively.

A few personnel changes were made in the secondary. Senior DeAngelo Smith began the year at safety despite grabbing eight interceptions in 2007 at cornerback. Smith moved back to corner in the fourth game, switching spots with Ohio State transfer Brandon Underwood. Drew Frey also took over at the other safety spot before getting injured, and now Aaron Webster is there.

And Mickens has gotten back to shutting down the other team's top receiver. Against Rutgers last week, he helped hold Kenny Britt -- the Big East's leading pass catcher -- to just four catches for 51 yards. Mickens also leads the team in tackles with 39, only 14 off his total from all of last season.

"I think I'm playing well now, but I can still take it to another level," he said. "The first couple of games, we as a defense didn't play up to our capability. We've got in a groove the last couple of weeks and are hitting on all cylinders right now."