Cannot Falter

We’ll start our preview with the big uglies, the offensive line. For once it appears, IU’s offensive line will be big, and ugly. Let’s start with some words from Coach Lynch:

The Hoosiers’ offensive line ought to be improved, as well. The seven recruits brought in with Hoeppner’s first recruiting class — that he dubbed the “Seven Blocks of Limestone — will be in their third years of college football.

“We’ve completely revamped what our offensive line looks like,” Lynch said. “Now, it looks like a Big Ten offensive line.”

The Seven Blocks of Limestone have achieved an almost mythical status, mostly because they haven’t played much. Now it appears they will finally all be experienced, at least in practice situations, and more importantly healthy.

The Projected Starters

Tackle: Rodger Saffold - 6′5″, 280 lbs

Guard: Pete Saxon - 6′6″, 315 lbs

Center: Alex Perry - 6′7″, 285 lbs

Guard: Cody Faulkner - 6′5″, 300 lbs

Tackle: Mike Stark - 6′7″, 282 lbs

First impression: those are big boys. Lynch isn’t kidding when he says these guys are going to at least look like a Big Ten offensive line. They average about 6′6″, 290. Now size is not everything, and I bet when you look at IU’s offensive line compared to, say Wisconsin’s, there will still be a visual difference, but gone is the day when you look at Illinois’ offensive line and IU’s and say “Wow, we look like midgets.” And with a quarterback like Kellen Lewis (hopefully), the offensive line does not have to be amazing. They just have to give him time to get his head up, look around, and at least find where to take off to. Granted, last year’s line did not do a tremendous job at that, and Lewis took a lot of hits and coughed up a lot of fumbles, especially against powerful defensive front-sevens like Penn State.

The other thing to remember is the injury trouble these guys have had recently. Saxon, Stark, and Saffold all were injured in one way or another during spring practice and missed time. No offensive line plays well when there’s a revolving door. However, when you have depth and spare talent, you can generally hang on a lot longer. Since IU is trying to build an offensive line, asking for depth is probably too much. If these guys cannot stay on the field, Kellen Lewis is going to be running for his life.

The Newcomers

For not the last time in this series, I will point you to mac624’s excellent breakdown of IU’s recruiting class. The new offensive lineman start with 6′6″, 285 lb OT Marc Damisch. Mac expects him to redshirt, and sees him as the left tackle of the future for IU. Will Matte, at 6′2″, 265, caught a bit of flak for his measurements. Mac however thinks he can make a successful transition to center, which as he points out, is a position of real need. He’s low, powerful, and hey, you need one short guy the QB can see over, right? Justin Pagen is 6′4″, 290 and described as a “brawler.” Enough said. AJ Thompson, 6′2″, 295 lbs from Lakeland, FL enrolled in January and participated in spring drills. He can play all five positions, and could be the center of the future along with Matte.

Due to the nature of the guys IU recruits, the Big Ten style of football (despite the 5 or 6 teams running some spread), and having some experienced guys, if not returning starters (three are gone), I don’t expect many of these guys to see the field, and if they do, IU is probably not having that good of a season. Thompson might be the exception though, due to his versatility and getting to campus for spring, especially a spring with as many injuries to the starting lineman as this one. He might be able to step in as a super-sub.

Conclusion

With the spread offense, the no-huddle, and Kellen Lewis, the o-line does not need to be a huge strength, it just needs to not be a weakness. Open that first hole, keep the dogs off of K-Lew, and give him a chance to get the ball into the hands of the skill players. Hopefully IU will now have an offensive line that can at least hold its own against the mid-tier Big Ten teams, and hopefully dominate non-BCS and lower level teams.

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