Mark Stoops confirms Ben Christman and Nik Hall out for season

Game week is here for the Kentucky Wildcats, who will play host to Ball State on Saturday to kick off the new season.

On Monday, head coach Mark Stoops held his Week 1 presser, and it featured some unfortunate news with the revamped Big Blue Wall.

According to Stoops, backup offensive lineman Ben Christman is out for the season due to injury.

In addition, Stoops confirmed that backup offensive lineman Nik Hall is also out for the year due to injury. Hall suffered an injury earlier this month that will cost him the entire 2023 season.

Christman, originally a class of 2021 Ohio State signee, was ranked 90th overall in his class by Rivals in addition to being the third-best player from Ohio. He transferred to Kentucky this offseason and was expected to be a backup at multiple spots along the offensive line.

As for Hall, he was a four-star signee for Kentucky in the class of 2022. He redshirted in 2022 and was expected to compete for the backup left tackle spot this season. He’s also the son of former Kentucky offensive lineman Antonio Hall.

While neither player was expected to start, they were set to be part of the rotation, which now looks dangerously thin after the starting five. With Hall out, former West Virginia walk-on Dylan Ray is now the backup left tackle on Kentucky’s depth chart.

Hopefully, both players will fully recover and be back on the field next year.

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