Kentucky Offensive Line Focused on Fundamentals Following South Carolina Debacle

Dylan Stewart and the South Carolina pass rush had a field day against the Kentucky Wildcats at Kroger Field. You don’t need to see the stats to know just how bad it was, but I might as well share them.

Kentucky quarterbacks dropped back to pass 22 times. The offensive line allowed pressures on 15 of those throws. That’s a good explanations as to why Bush Hamdan seemingly had to quit calling pass plays against the Gamecocks. It was a futile effort, although not one that is irreconcilable.

“A lot of it just came down to one-on-one battles,” offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan said on Tuesday. “And I think we maybe came into the game and put a lot of emphasis on protecting those edges and those pass rushers. There were some things on the interior side that hurt as well.

“I thought we ran the ball at times during the game and that’s a huge plus. Certainly, from a protection standpoint, we know what we gotta do to take the next step there.”

Kentucky ran for 180 non-sack yards against South Carolina. Not too shabby. The issue is that when there were negative yardage plays, they were for HUGE losses and it put the Cats behind schedule and allowed the Gamecocks to tee off in obvious passing situations. Hamdan shoulders the blame for not mixing up the play-calls enough, but he can’t dive on every grenade.

Fundamentals Failed the Kentucky Offensive Line

Mark Stoops used the term “disciplined execution” multiple times on Monday. Coaches can only do so much. The players have to do their jobs and refuse to lose.

“Everybody has a one-on-one battle. Very rarely in today’s game do you get two guys on one. When you look at when we had breakdowns, I think it starts with some very simple things,” said offensive line coach Eric Wolford.

There were problems with hand placement. Hands got wide and they led to holding penalties. On film, the offensive line coach could see guys standing too tall without a strong base. They got off-balance and blown by.

“There’s a point to when you get on blocks you gotta stick on blocks, finish and play with tremendous strain. Those are things we felt like we need to be better on,” said Wolford. “The guys are obviously disappointed in the fact that the game didn’t go the way they anticipated it going and there’s a sense of pride… I feel like it’s a group that’s disappointed and they have a sense of urgency to get back because they’re a prideful group.”

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“One Week Doesn’t Define Us.”

One of those disappointed players is Marques Cox. His 5.1 PFF pass-blocking grade was widely circulated following his poor performance. The seventh-year player didn’t need Wolford to scream at him to know he had a very bad game.

“We all were in there (on Sunday watching film) pissed off at ourselves mostly. I was personally pissed off at myself. I had two holdings, gave up a couple of pressures. It starts with me leading the group and being better, having my hands inside, and playing through the whistle,” said Cox.

The Kentucky offensive line knows that performance is well below an acceptable standard. They’re highly motivated to show they’re better than what the tape revealed against South Carolina.

“One week doesn’t define us,” said Cox. “We just gotta keep stacking days, keep on working, and continue to get better.”

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