As the Kentucky running game pounded away at Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, a familiar pattern developed.
UK backs Rafael Little, Tony Dixon and Alfonso Smith all ran for daylight on the outside, which was not that unusual.
What did stick out was the offensive linemen getting out on the perimeter with the backs, opening the holes and creating the space that allowed the Wildcats to run for 288 yards.
That's commonly known in football circles as "pulling": an offensive lineman moves back from the line of scrimmage toward one side of the field to block for a ball carrier.
Although pulling isn't ideal for a 330-pound hog-mollie up front, the Cats have enough athleticism on the offensive line this year to implement more into the running game.
The Cats start one 300-pounder on the line (right tackle Justin Jeffries), but center Eric Scott and left guard Zipp Duncan are both former tight ends and high school basketball players who have the speed and footwork to get outside. Right guard Jason Leger is also agile enough to pull.
Offensive line has a lot more pull this season
09-05-2007, 08:51 PM
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