Offensive Line talk

[HuskerCarter]

I don't know if many of you listen to morning shows on 1620 The Zone when they talk Husker football, but I enjoy listening to it. Anyway, this morning they talked about changes on the Offensive Line that Garrison might be moving towards. let's be real, our offensive line is alright, they have their moments of great blocking and moments of terrible blocking. But thing they mentioned that hasn't been a staple of Huskers offensive line play has been putting defensive linemen into the ground and knocking them off the line scrimmage. Pancakes, if I'm not mistaken is what they call it in football, when a Offensive Lineman puts a Defensive Lineman into the turf. They also talked about teaching them to hustle and play until the end of the whistle. My old high school coach always taught us if he saw us doing the so called "fast walk" as an offensive lineman, it was an immediate 10 laps on the "Hill".

 

I really hope that Garrison is pushing these kids to play harder, faster and stronger. Its really the next step for this offensive line to take to the next level. It honestly is something you don't see a lot of nowadays from any team.

 

Perfect example, during Ameer's long TD run against Illinois. Not taking anything away from Ameer, but seeing the hustle from guys like Sirles, Pensick, Cotton, and Long to get in front of Ameer and provide that cutback lane for him is truly something special and I hope it carries on with these newer offensive linemen.

[IllinoisHuskerFan]

I think the most underrated part that no one is talking about regarding this oline is that they go against our front 7 1st team defense quite a bit. If they can build some continuity and rhythm as a group while facing this front 7 I believe it can only help when we see inferior defenses in FAU, McNeese before Fresno St. The left side is older and nasty and there is great competiton on the right side creating some great competiton and depth. I also think for the first time in years we have the depth at nearly every position that Bo and Co have had a much more physical camp...i.e. quite a few camp injuries. With a more physical approach to practice, depth and going against our 1st team D, I think this oline unit will be better than people think. Could be some growing pains but Im not to worried. I dont think they are as talented to start the year as last year but I could see this group becoming very solid as conference play approaches. Could be the most underrated group on the team with the most upside.

 

They started install for FAU yesterday so you know were getting close now! GBR!!

[NUinID]

I think the biggest thing that most don't realize, especially if you are younger, is how Nebraska's offensive lines were built throughout TO tenure and into the Solich era.

 

They typical way a Nebraska offensive linemen's life work was you came into the system as a freshman and played freshman ball then redshirted.

 

Later on after the freshman team was dropped you came into the system and redshirted as a freshman.

 

As a RS freshman most never even saw the field in a game.

 

As a sophomore they would get into games in mop up duty

 

As a Jr. they may start or be a #2 and play a lot.

 

As a senior they start and play.

 

Nebraska throughout the years is littered with guys who only started 1 season and only starting for 2 was the norm. Brendan Stai and Rob Zatacha were only 2 year starters. Joel Wilks only started 1 year on the line considered to be the best ever.

 

My point is that NU linemen used to always pay there dues and learn their craft for a long time. They were well prepared to play when the time came. This was possible because of the depth that they had. The backup to the starter wasn't a RS freshman he was a Jr.

 

Nebraska is finally getting back to this point. The starters are Jr. and Sr. Guys are ready to play Sterup, Price, Cotton, Moudy etc have paid their dues and ready to go.

 

The depth that was built for so long was lost. I am going to blame Solich and Billy C. It is finally getting back to where it needs to be.

[Mavric]

^ Great post. And we also had enough scholarships to stockpile that many OLinemen.

[Danny Bateman]

I think this issue kind of goes both ways with people and it annoys me. In one of the threads about the offense, someone made a comment somewhat along the lines of "People don't understand that we couldn't reach our potential in the running game last year because of the offensive line we were running behind."

I really hope that comment phases its way out soon. We had great offensive line last year with tons of experience. The depth chart listed nothing but RS seniors and juniors. And people still find a way to use that as an excuse.

 

I think we're all right guys, The offensive line has indeed been a huge focus of recruiting and I believe Bo and Co. understand that any successful offensive system relies on having big, mean nasties up front with bad attitudes and good technique. We have truly had some great offensive line classes the last couple years and hopefully that comes to fruition.

 

Uneducated people who just continue to use the offensive line as an excuse for poor offensive play give me headaches, though.

[Hunter94]

our O line is very inexperienced going into this season, i don't know how they will perform, but there is limited experience and it makes me very nervous.

[HuskerCarter]

I wouldn't say so Hunter, Guys like Cotton, Sterup, Pelini, Moudy all got good reps and rotation last year and performed well. I know I have seen Price take the field a few times on mop duty, but he is no where near experienced as those other 4. It does sound like he learned quite a bit during the offseason and it pushing for more playing time. And the JUCO kid, Kondolo looks good as well. I just hope that guy works out better than Hardrick did.

 

We had a very good offensive line with plenty of depth. The bad thing about last year we had quite a few injuries on the OL, The biggest hit was losing Spencer Long. Then Qvale got hurt, Sirles later.

 

What worries me about the offensive line, is when they need to move guys around to fill in spots where the injuries happen.

[admo]

our O line is very inexperienced going into this season, i don't know how they will perform, but there is limited experience and it makes me very nervous.

I'm feeling the exact same way. I'm slightly optimistic while holding my breathe at the same time.

[Hunter94]

I wouldn't say so Hunter, Guys like Cotton, Sterup, Pelini, Moudy all got good reps and rotation last year and performed well. I know I have seen Price take the field a few times on mop duty, but he is no where near experienced as those other 4. It does sound like he learned quite a bit during the offseason and it pushing for more playing time. And the JUCO kid, Kondolo looks good as well. I just hope that guy works out better than Hardrick did.

 

We had a very good offensive line with plenty of depth. The bad thing about last year we had quite a few injuries on the OL, The biggest hit was losing Spencer Long. Then Qvale got hurt, Sirles later.

 

What worries me about the offensive line, is when they need to move guys around to fill in spots where the injuries happen.

exactly, we have very little depth here.........

[SouthAfricanHusker]

We did have a great line last year. But we only were able to play with them for half a season. This year we have more depth so we will be in a better position if we have similar injuries (as long as Lewis stays healthy).

 

The comment about the old days. Not many top flight athletes are willing to play only a few seasons. It's all about getting to the league as soon as you can. High schoolers are closer to ready physically now. Guys like Tyler Moore (sore subject I know) don't want to come to a school they can't start at by their sophomore year.

[RedDenver]

 

I wouldn't say so Hunter, Guys like Cotton, Sterup, Pelini, Moudy all got good reps and rotation last year and performed well. I know I have seen Price take the field a few times on mop duty, but he is no where near experienced as those other 4. It does sound like he learned quite a bit during the offseason and it pushing for more playing time. And the JUCO kid, Kondolo looks good as well. I just hope that guy works out better than Hardrick did.

 

We had a very good offensive line with plenty of depth. The bad thing about last year we had quite a few injuries on the OL, The biggest hit was losing Spencer Long. Then Qvale got hurt, Sirles later.

 

What worries me about the offensive line, is when they need to move guys around to fill in spots where the injuries happen.

exactly, we have very little depth here.........

 

We have plenty of bodies with reportedly good talent, so our depth is fine. If by depth you mean experienced backups, then all of college football has very little depth.

[Hunter94]

 

 

I wouldn't say so Hunter, Guys like Cotton, Sterup, Pelini, Moudy all got good reps and rotation last year and performed well. I know I have seen Price take the field a few times on mop duty, but he is no where near experienced as those other 4. It does sound like he learned quite a bit during the offseason and it pushing for more playing time. And the JUCO kid, Kondolo looks good as well. I just hope that guy works out better than Hardrick did.

 

We had a very good offensive line with plenty of depth. The bad thing about last year we had quite a few injuries on the OL, The biggest hit was losing Spencer Long. Then Qvale got hurt, Sirles later.

 

What worries me about the offensive line, is when they need to move guys around to fill in spots where the injuries happen.

exactly, we have very little depth here.........

 

We have plenty of bodies with reportedly good talent, so our depth is fine. If by depth you mean experienced backups, then all of college football has very little depth.

 

we have a lot of guys that have never played a snap in a college game.......that's not depth, as you said we have bodies....agree

[RedDenver]

 

 

exactly, we have very little depth here.........

 

We have plenty of bodies with reportedly good talent, so our depth is fine. If by depth you mean experienced backups, then all of college football has very little depth.

 

we have a lot of guys that have never played a snap in a college game.......that's not depth, as you said we have bodies....agree

 

I guess I don't understand you're point then. Isn't that the same for every team right now?