Kentucky's Offensive Line Looking to Carry Momentum From Mississippi State Performance Through Bye Week
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Kentucky's offensive line finally took a much-needed stride last weekend in the Wildcats' 27-17 win over Mississippi State.
After six straight weeks of failing to meet expectations, the Big Blue Wall stepped up to the plate against the Bulldogs, imposing its will while creating gaps for running back Chris Rodriguez and providing time for quarterback Will Levis.
Ultimately, it was Rodriguez who benefitted the most from the improved play, as the star senior finished with 31 carries for 197 yards on the ground.
Offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello pointed to the RB's heavy workload being in the cards before the Wildcats took the field.
"That was our intention all along, (Mississippi State) brought it early too," Scangarello said. "You're hoping that our type of style of play will wear on them and at some point the damn will break. And when it does, you just got to keep going at it. I felt like we got to a point at the end where we could feel it."
The O-line kept straining, eventually overpowering and frustrating the Bulldogs to the point where things got chippy, leading to this Oscar-worthy moment from right guard Tashawn Manning:
"None of us really saw it until after, we all saw it on our phones as soon as we got back in the locker room," starting center Eli Cox said about the flop. "We watched it a few times just making fun of Tashawn, that was funny."
As funny as it was, that moment from Manning signified a potential new chapter for the O-line, one that could be reminiscent of teams that Cox has been on in years past.
"I personally think that was the first time this season, us playing to that standard that we usually hold ourselves to, so it's encouraging to see that," Cox said.
Entering the season, Cox transitioned from guard to center, Manning transferred in from Auburn, Kenneth Horsey moved over from guard to tackle, while Jager Burton and Jeremy Flax were elevated up to a starting role.
Manning, Flax and Horsey have all dealt with injuries over the first half of the season, meaning offensive line coach Zach Yenser has had to jumble around the starting five multiple times.
Flax left the Mississippi State game due to injury, meaning sophomore Deondre Buford had to once again step in at right tackle one week after making his first career start.
Even still, the veteran Cox is relishing in his unit finally starting to mesh together in-game.
"The experience and the reps these guys are getting, all of us, having the continuity and playing SEC games with the same five guys, it's invaluable experience you can't get elsewhere," he said. "I think you're seeing this group continue to gel together and continue to build on what we're doing."
"We're gonna have to win some games down in the trenches like that, we're gonna have to be that type of team," Scangarello said. "We're gonna have to maintain that level of energy and execution if we're gonna be successful down the stretch."
As previously mentioned, Cox is a player who's been apart of top-tier O-lines. He's been in the trenches alongside current NFL talent such as Logan Stenberg, Luke Fortner and Darian Kinnard.
He's known what this 2022 group is able to do on the field, which has made the slow start to the season twice as aggravating:
"It's a really good feeling as an offensive line, because it's frustrating as a group to know that that's what we've been capable of for so long, and it's been frustrating that we haven't been putting that out on the field so far this season. So to finally see it come together, to have the same five for an extensive period of time, throughout practice and games, to have a group of five that's confident in a gameplan and we're confident in what we're doing, having C-Rod back there, it was just very relieving and just exciting to finally show what this O-line's capable of and the talent that we have in this group."
That relief and excitement carries the Wildcats into the bye week. In the eyes of some it comes at a bad time, as the O-line finally found its groove, only to take an extra week off, potentially killing any momentum it might've had after the win.
In the eyes of Cox, however, he'd rather the Cats get back to full strength as they prepare for the final stretch of the season:
"We're just looking to make sure that everyone's at 100 percent speed," he said. "Everyone's a little dinged up after games, sore, bruises here and there, so to be able to have this week to just focus on the details, get everyone back to 100 percent to be able to hit the ground full speed Monday to be able to have a great week of practice next week."
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