Kentucky Offensive Line Named Semifinalist for Joe Moore Award

The Kentucky offensive line has been named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, recognizing the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit, it was announced on Tuesday. The Wildcats are one of 18 semifinalists for the second-year award.

This season the Wildcats’ running game is averaging a remarkable 242.4 yards per game, the best mark in 40 years, and 5.5 yards per rushing attempt, on track to be a school record. The line, which has nine players who receive weekly playing time, has been even better over the last nine games in averaging 275.1 rushing yards per contest.

Anchored by senior center Jon Toth and coached by former Wildcat and assistant coach John Schlarman the offensive line churned out 443 rushing yards against Tennessee this season, the most ever for the Cats against a Southeastern Conference opponent and second-most in a single game in school history. For the first time in program history a pair of players – Stanley “Boom” Williams and Benny Snell Jr. – have each rushed for more than 1,000 yards. Williams is averaging 7.3 yards per carry, on pace to be a school record, and Snell has broken UK freshman records for most rushing yards, most total touchdowns, most rushing touchdowns and most 100-yard games.

The Foundation for Teamwork presents the Joe Moore Award. It is named after Joe Moore, widely regarded as the best offensive line coach in college football history, and is the only major college football award to honor a unit. The award recognized the unit that best displays toughness, effort, teamwork, consistency, technique, and “finishing”. The voting committee is comprised of college football experts, especially people who played or coached the offensive line position, including all of the current offensive line coaches at the Division I/FBS level as well as former players, coaches, colleagues of Coach Moore and select media.

The other semifinalists include Alabama, Auburn, Boise State, Iowa, LSU, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, San Diego State, Southern Cal, Texas, Utah, Washington, Washington State, Western Michigan and Wisconsin. Arkansas won the inaugural award in 2015.