Whether Kentucky likes it or not, there is still a glaring i sue surrounding the offensive line after four games.Quarterback Will Levis has been sacked 16 times through 16 quarters of football in the 2022 campaign. While sacks aren't everything that indicates how good or bad an O-line is doing, it's usually a pretty good place to start.The Big Blue Wall has had injury i sues, sure. The line might not be gelling as quick as it would've like to, yes. Unfortunately, those excuses aren't as understandable as they once were during fall camp and through the first couple of weeks in the regular season.Despite allowing five sacks, while the UK rushing attack netted 2.9 yards-per-attempt on 35 carries, head coach Mark Stoops felt like he saw improvement:"I think they did some good things, and they were bringing a lot of pre Nik Needham Jersey sures. I felt like we picked up a lot and created some opportunities for the explosive plays," Stoops said. "Again, you know, with all of us feeling like it was just the gung-ho performance, just sitting there, and at that point when you felt like you had the game under control if we could get a stop. You know, we were averaging almost Blake Ferguson Jersey 7.3 yards-per-play you know, which is pretty explosive. We just got to do a better job of finishing."Those explosive plays were courtesy of Levis finding an open receiver, normally in a not-so-clean pocket. There were multiple plays where the Cats landed a big pa s while Levis was getting rocked as he threw.The run game was ho-hum, though Kavosiey Smoke totaled 85 yards on 12 attempts. That lack of consistency reared its head, stopping UK from garnering any serious momentum on the ground."I think we just felt like there were plays, there were opportunities, just we were getting close and we want Teddy Bridgewater Jersey a couple of those runs to spit out. We had a couple. And, you know, I think there was a lot of confidence there that we could create explosive plays, as we did."Scroll to ContinueAs previously mentioned, sack numbers don't always tell the whole story. Levis likes to escape the pocket at all costs, sometimes a little too quickly, which can lead to him being brought down when he maybe had an extra second or two to stay in the pocket and find a receiver. Stoops even had a tiny tirade on wide receiver blocking last Monday, so it's obvious that not all 16 of those sacks are square on the shoulders of the O-line.Stoops echoed this on Saturday after the 31-23 win over Northern Illinois:"It's not always on them. I'm not saying none of it is or -- you know, some of those sacks - where the one in particular was, that stands out to me where I know we got beat clean off the edge," he said. "There's other ones where the quarterback needs to throw the ball. There's running backs, there's a lot of people involved. I mean, as I said, we know we need to improve. But look at the good that they did tonight, as well, in protecting a bunch of stuff. And they were selling the farm. And we made them pay for it."At what point does "we know we need to improve" turn into "we know the O-line isn't up to its normal standard this season and we have to figure Liam Eichenberg Jersey out ways to work around that?"Luckily, Kentucky's skill positions feature some of the quickest players of the Stoops era, meaning that Levis doesn't need an eternity in the backfield to make some magic happen.The bottom line is Zach Thomas Jersey this: Kentucky's O-line has clearly taken a step back. That's not great, yes, but can you blame them? The Big Blue Wall has been an NFL pipeline as of late, but those next-level guys just might not be on this current UK roster for this season.Offensive line coach Zach Yenser has been upfront all season long about his group needing to find continuity and just gel as a unit. Everything takes time, but how long is too long? There's a feisty Ole Mi s defense awaiting the Wildcats in Oxford next weekend, and they won't be forgiving when a mi sed block or a signment rears its head.