Linemen find life in the trenches physical, rewarding

by Joe Arnold
Staff Writer

Once commonly thought of as a position for fat, slow and uncoordinated football players, playing on the offensive line is now a job for quicker, smarter and much more agile athletes. Connoisseurs of the "big uglies" need to look no further than Ohio's own linemen.

"One of the attributes they have to have, like any offensive lineman, is they have to be the toughest guys on the field," Ohio offensive line coach Mike Summers said. "They’re involved in contact 65 to 70 plays a game. And with our offense, that contact is violent, and it is often."

Summers is the architect behind Ohio's offensive line, a team that leads the Mid-American Conference in rushing offense with 1,926 total yards and averages 275 yards rushing per game.

Although the offensive line cannot take all the credit for the offensive output with a quarterback like Dontrell Jackson and running backs like Jamel Patterson and Stafford Owens, Ohio's triple-headed monster, known as the option, begins with the line, coach Brian Knorr said.

"These days, typical blocking schemes are very simple – zone blocking or pass protection," he said. "We’re very different. We incorporate a lot of different schemes, so you have to be intelligent to comprehend and execute them."

Although blocking in a true option offense, where the defense dictates who gets the ball, might seem confusing to some, each player has his own assignment, Ohio left guard Nick Glowacki said.

"We’ve got a lot more one-on-one blocking, so we’ve got to be more physical in a game," he said. "There’s some of us blocking for the fullback, and there’s someone blocking for the tailback and the quarterback."

Unlike most offensive lines in the country, the Bobcats rely on the size of their guards and the speed of their tackles. Both the guards and tackles stand 6 feet 3 inches, but the guards weigh in at 300 lbs. and the tackles weigh 274 lbs.

For tackle Chris Jackson, Ohio's offense is a lineman's dream, he said.

"That’s the true test of a lineman – if you can run block," he said. "Everybody can sit back on their heels and catch defensive linemen coming at you. But if you can push someone off the ball, it makes you feel so much better."

Pushing opponents off the ball is something the Bobcats have done 382 times this season. Through seven games Ohio has 18 rushing touchdowns, second behind Toledo's 22.

Facing a defense bent on knocking him out of the game on every snap is a reality for Dontrell Jackson. But knowing the talent he has in front of him puts him at ease, the signal caller said.

"I think they’re one of the best o-lines in the MAC," Jackson said. "I always call them my force field. They’re not the biggest, but they’re so fast, so quick. That’s why I have so much confidence in them every game."