O-line verdict?

DesMoinesHawki

DesMoinesHawki

Well-Known Member
Did not have a chance to make it over to Iowa City. I am curious (for fans who made the trek) how the O-line looked? I know that pretty much every year the O-line seems to look a little shakey in the early practices ... And, I know it faced a pretty tough D-line today ... But all of that aside, how did the line look today? Is this an area we will be fine in? Were there holes for the backs today? Did our qbs spend much time on their back? In advance, thanks for any feedback/observations ...
 
It sounds like pass blocking is look good. Blitz pick-up definitely sounds like it's "ahead of schedule." I haven't heard as much about how Iowa's run blocking has looked though.
 
After seeing the O-line today, I have zero concerns. They were playing a great D and picked up the blitz very nicely.
 
Even if people were saying they looked a little inconsistent, but solid I would have been really happy, because honestly, I was worried they could look bad against our d-line today. But from all accounts it seems they doing a real good job.
 
We pretty much have a completely new group of guys, finally getting their chances. Gettis, Koppel, and Markus Z have paid their dues and developed their bodies. I'm sure their hungry to get their chance and make the most of it.
 
The one advantage is that this group has largely been practicing together for the last year. Last year they were the 2nd team line for the most part and then they established themselves as the starters early in spring and nothing has changed since then. That hasn't happened often for an Iowa line. That type of chemistry will be huge. Hopefully everyone stays healthy!
 
While I wasn't there, we all know last year going into the season our O-line was one of our least concerns. We obviously ended up pretty well, but the path to get there was a little rocky. I will be very happy if we are able to follow the same path of getting better as the season goes on. True, that is usually the story for any other team, but if we can do that, I will be happy.

Also, it's nice to have our coach know what it takes to have a good O-line. If he says we are progressing along nicely, I will take him at his word.
 
It can't hurt that the O-line has to go up against the nation's best D-line everyday in practice.

That has to accelerate the learning curve, right?
 
JonDMiller said:
Which has been a rarity...the OL has typically looked a bit shaky at the open practice in August.
Click to expand...

I agree...I thought the blitz pickup and pass blocking in general was pretty good. Run blocking was a concern. I don't think the stretch play will work well with such a small center, Koeppel will get pushed back so far by the DT that it will blowup. I was very surprised about the praise from KF for Gettis. To say that he will be one of the smaller guards but also one of the better guards in the league was high praise indeed.
 
I didn't think the O Line looked that good, but considering who they were going against I don't think it's that big of a deal.

The running game wasn't going anywhere. The DL was getting a ton of push and depth in the backfield from what I saw..
 
If guys stay healthy, it's reassuring to know that there is still plenty of practice yet for the 2nd tier guys to improve.

Also, knowing that our 2nd tier is comprised of Boffeli, Orne, Hundertmark, MacMillan, and Tobin/Haganman/Van Sloten gives me plenty of confidence that we should be more than okay when things are all said and done.

However, the success of the unit will depend on the top guys remaining healthy.
 
storminspank said:
I didn't think the O Line looked that good, but considering who they were going against I don't think it's that big of a deal.

The running game wasn't going anywhere. The DL was getting a ton of push and depth in the backfield from what I saw..
Click to expand...

I saw the same thing. Not until the 3rd team defensive unit came in did we see a push from the Oline. I have less concerns of the Oline than I did coming in. Mainly because they picked up blitzes and provided good protection on pass plays. But they still have a long ways to go on running plays.
 
Last year folks were really concerned about our O Line because we didn't know how good our D Line was.....This year we expected our D Line (one of the top in the nation) to really push around the OL and I think they held in there OK. I think we may be in better shape on OL......just like we were last year. We need someone to be "nasty" like Bruggs was and I like Orne to be that guys but overall it looks promising to me. Let's remember our D Line is ranked top in the nation by many so getting beat by them on a number plays shouldn't be really surprising
 
We shouldn't kid ourselves. Our OL still features only 2 guys who have a reasonable number of career starts under their belts. Thus, our OL will invariably be a bit of a work in progress .... at least through the first part of the season.

The guys on the OL definitely need to be hungry and play like it. If Iowa truly evolves into becoming a legit national championship contender in 2010, we're going to need guys on the OL to elevate their game and provide us with some positive storylines through the season. Injuries happen on the OL too ... so the backups need to practice like starters ... because we'll inevitably face situations where we need to the "next man in" to come in and execute at A VERY HIGH level.

Anyhow, I have very measured expectations for the OL early in the season. However, I also anticipate that the group will develop into a solid group. I must admit though, I'm pretty heartened concerning what I've heard so far about the OL. I'm really hoping that more backups can push their way into giving us more flexibility on the OL. It would be great if Ferentz would be able to legitimately say that we have a solid 8 or 9 guys who are on the top tier ... as opposed to only 6 guys. Of course, considering that we have plenty of underclassmen on the OL, I'm not going to hold anything against the young guys for not being "there" yet.
 
Stupid question, but whatever happened to the 'expert' poster once known as Digger? His analysis, particularly on the O-line, was tremendous and I miss it.
 
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