Kentucky’s rebuilt offensive line is drawing serious respect heading into Saturday night’s game at Oklahoma, and the praise has come from the Sooners’ own coach.
The Wildcats’ front has already earned a midseason spot on the Joe Moore Award honor roll, the recognition for college football’s best offensive line. Center Coleton Price, a Baylor transfer, has also been added to the Rimington Trophy watch list and was named to Sports Illustrated’s Midseason All-America Second Team.
Through six games, the Big Blue Wall has helped Kentucky average 5.12 yards per carry, pile up 1,091 rushing yards and score 13 rushing touchdowns. It has also done a solid job keeping the pocket clean, allowing just 12 sacks in six games.
That’s the group Oklahoma coach Brent Venables sees as the toughest his defense has faced so far.
“It’s not coach speak,” Venables said about UK’s offensive line. “They’ve done a great job with their front. They’ve got starters from Ohio State, Baylor, Alabama, and Tennessee up front.
“I feel like that’s the best unit, top to bottom, offensive line-wise, that we’ve seen up to this point in time.”
The numbers back up the eyeball test. Kentucky ranks seventh nationally in yards created before contact per carry at 2.79, which has given its running backs real space to work with. The line has also allowed only 33 pressures and 11 sacks in six games, though three of those sacks and 12 of those pressures came in the loss to Alabama.
CJ Baxter has been a big part of that running game. He ranks fifth in the SEC with 484 rushing yards and second in rushing touchdowns with eight.
But Baxter’s status for Saturday night is a major question. He is listed as questionable on Kentucky’s injury report, the first time he has appeared on it this season, and there is about a 50 percent chance he will miss the game.
Oklahoma, a touchdown favorite, is coming off its win over then-No. 1 Texas. Venables, though, isn’t putting much stock in momentum carrying over.
“It’s a team that is battle-tested and a team that really believes as much as anything. They’ve been incredibly efficient,” he said.
“They did a great job with their roster in the portal. Starting quarterback from Notre Dame is Kenny Minchey, playing fantastic.
“They lead the SEC in turnover margin at plus-seven, so they’ve been really opportunistic and have taken care of the football offensively. I think going into last week’s game against LSU, LSU was the top-rated defense in the SEC, and obviously they had great success: Went for over 400 yards, just under seven yards per play.”
Oklahoma enters with the nation’s eighth-ranked defense, but Venables says Kentucky is “really disciplined” and does a good job in all three phases.
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Kentucky's Linebacker Situation Just Took Another Unexpected Turn
Kentuckys inside linebacker picture got a little clearer, at least for the moment, when Alex Afari was granted eligibility to play by a temporary injunction from Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Brian Edwards. The ruling comes amid a lawsuit challenging how the NCAA is applying its new five-year eligibility rules to players who graduated high school in 2022, and it adds another twist to a situation that has already moved through multiple legal decisions.
For Kentucky, the timing matters because Afaris status directly affects a depth chart that has been under pressure at inside linebacker. His return gives the Wildcats another option in a spot where every available body counts, even as the larger eligibility fight continues to play out in court. [Read more 🡒]