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Kentucky's offensive line Is the best in the SEC right now
- Story byWildcats Wire
- Kentucky's offensive line Is the best in the SEC right now
Running backs get the credit, quarterbacks get the blame, and offensive linemen get ignored until somebody holds. The Kentucky Wildcats front five spent Week 4 making that arrangement impossible to defend.
The Wildcats beat South Alabama 45-21 , and the ground game did most of the talking: 390 yards on 42 carries, or 9.3 a carry. CJ Baxter ran for 149. Jason Patterson added 137 and three scores. Jovantae Barnes got exactly 100. Three backs at the century mark in one game is a feat Kentucky has managed only twice in its history.
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But the number that jumps out isn't a rushing total. PFF charged Kentucky's starting five with zero pressures for the day. Kenny Minchey wasn't hurried, hit or harassed on a snap that counted, and he turned that peace into 19 completions on 25 throws for 177 yards and a touchdown.
The national stamp
PFF's response was to hand Kentucky its Offensive Line of the Week award, then go a step further by sending three of the linemen to its National Team of the Weekalong with spots on the SEC Team of the Week.
Lance Heard was the headliner. His 87.5grade was tops among all offensive tackles in the country this past week. Alongside him were center Coleton Priceand right guard Tegra Tshabola , which means the honors landed on the left edge, the middle and the right side of the interior.
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That's the detail worth savoring. A great game from one lineman can be a lucky matchup. Three of them grading out nationally on the same afternoon looks a lot more like a group that has figured something out together.
Patience, then punishment
Don't pretend this was a stroll from the opening whistle. South Alabama trailed just 24-21 at the break, in large part because Kentucky kept getting in its own way despite piling up 295 yards.
After halftime, the Wildcats stopped tripping. They scored 21 straight, outgained the Jaguars 272 to 153, and made the game look nothing like the first half. That kind of late separation is what a heavy, disciplined line produces: defenders who spent 30 minutes getting pushed backward eventually stop pushing back.
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Saturday's exam
Kentucky is 3-1 , and the schedule doesn't wait. Next up is a road date at South Carolina , and the Gamecocks have beaten Kentucky four years running.
Last season's meeting will be hard to forget. The Wildcats moved the ball on the ground and took an early lead, then watched South Carolina flip the script and win 35-13, with six sacks along the way. So compare the two ends of it: Kentucky's line allowed no pressure last week, and the team it faces this week sacked the offense six times in this same series a year ago.
The Gamecocks arrive with a defense that has held opponents to 16.7 points a game so far. Their edge rusher Dylan Stewart piled up 4.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss last season, exactly the type of player who can turn a pocket into a problem. The run game also faces a tougher test. South Carolina's rush defense held up well for most of last year, with Ole Miss and Missouri the only teams that really solved it.
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The good news for Kentucky is that this team has already shown it can survive a hostile environment, having knocked off then-top-10 Texas A&M on the road earlier this fall.
Still, a loud stadium and a defense with a chip on its shoulder is the truest test any offensive line can face. If Heard, Price, Tshabola and their linemates pass it, the national buzz stops being a one-week story and becomes the identity of this Kentucky team.
Next game:Kentucky at South Carolina When:Saturday, Oct. 3, 4:15 p.m. ET Where:Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, S.C. TV:SEC Network
This article originally appeared on UK Wildcats Wire: Kentucky's offensive line Is the best in the SEC right now
