Kenneth Horsey embraced teammate Deondre Buford after UK scored against Mississippi State. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kenneth Horsey heard the talk. So did his offensive line teammates.
“We have been highly criticized. We heard all the talk,” said Horsey after Kentucky’s 24-14 win over Mississippi State Saturday night.
The “talk” was that UK’s offensive line had cost the Wildcats two wins and led to quarterback Will Levis getting hurt and having to miss the South Carolina game. The facts are UK had given up 25 sacks in six games, last in the Southeastern Conference, and scored just 33 points in two SEC games.
It’s also a fact UK has had starting offensive linemen miss games with injuries and that UK does not have a single offensive lineman this year who had started a game at the same position he’s playing this season for the Cats.
Horsey thanked first-year offensive line coach Zach Yenser for “keeping us together and keeping us going” when the criticism was mounting.
“We understood we were not far off,” Horsey said. “It’s about intensity, physicality and we put it all together tonight and I am proud of how we played.”
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said out of respect for Mississippi State’s unorthodox blitzing defense that the Cats used more sets with tight ends to help with blocking. Kentucky ran for 239 yards — five yards per carry — and threw for 239.
Quarterback Will Levis threw for 230 yards and one score despite being briefly knocked out of the game after he took a hit on his left shoulder.
“I was so proud of them (offensive linemen). I was so proud of Deondre Buford who came in when Jeremy Flax was injured (in the second half),” Levis said. “Not many people see all the work they did. He’s a guy I am extremely proud of. As a unit they played their asses off tonight.”
Even without evaluating film, Stoops said it was “pretty fair” to assume the offensive line played much better against a good defensive team.
“We understood that they have run this defense and understood they did a lot of twisting and used multiple looks we had to differentiate,” Horsey, a starting left guard last year who now starts at left tackle, said.
Horsey said the entire offense had a good week of film study and knew the line “could crease” the defense.
“Our backs were against the wall. We did not want to go into our bye week with three losses in a row,” Horsey said. “It started with intensity and pride. It was that pride that (late offensive line) coach (John) Schlarman always coached and instilled in us.”
3 Responses
Very nice game for the Cats. The O LIne did show improvement, but the real stars of this offense remain Rodriguez (how many yards after contact did that man have last night, and how many of those happened with MSU players in tow?) and Levis (tough as nails).
The defense was solid, only allowing 10 points for the game, and effectively shutting down MSU’s vaunted running game. I still think there are unresolved issues with the kicking game, but at least no absurdly short punts or punt snaps over the kicker’s head, but more than one place kick snap that was not performed well.
And Oh Those Penalties.
Good to see the team get back on the winning side of things prior to going to Knoxville (what a dreadful thought after yesterday). However, an extra week to heal and prepare should help this team in that game.
I cannot imagine this UK defense giving up 52 points to any opponent, but perhaps Tennessee will have something to say about that, and the Tennessee defense did give up 49 points yesterday.
UT has a team with talent that seems unbeatable now. UK will have their hands full. Tennessee’s schedule also helps them this year with key games in Knoxville. A packed Neyland Stadium is a force in and of itself. That stadium packed out is as impressive as I have seen, and deafening. I do believe that home field advantage for the Vols slowed the Tide, forcing errors and penalties, yet the Tide had their chance to win it. Bryce Young is one tough and great QB, maybe the best in Tide history, but UT got a ton of pressure on him. That is worrisome to me when UK and Levis come calling. That said, I look for UK to upset that arrogant bunch. They must do what the tide didn’t do enough of, get to and pound on Hooker all day. The preparation begins now.
Pass blocking is entirely different than run blocking. Linemen love run blocking because they can get aggressive and nasty with the defense. This is what linemen love to do. Pass blocking is more of a science or, rather, what a thinking man’s lineman might like. Technique is critical and takes time to master. This might be one of the reasons that runners like C-Rod seem do so when the passing game is struggling. Keep them healthy and this Oline will come around.