Ohio’s halfway through spring practice, and things are finally starting to shake out. Position battles are heating up, and pads are starting to pop.
As practice continues, there are plenty of questions to be asked on the football field. The Post will try to answer some of them.
This week, we’ll break down the offensive and defensive lines. On offense, the Bobcats are replacing three of the starting five, and they’ll be tough to replicate. The Bobcats think they’ll be all right by Week 1 — which happens to be just 22 weeks away.
Defensively, the Bobcats will look to again trot out a strong defensive line that prides itself on run-stopping, while improving the pass rush with some much-needed experience.
Offensive line
Lost: Joe Lowery, Joe Anderson, Durrell Wood
Projected starters (left tackle to right tackle): Marques Grimes, Hagen Meservy, Steven Hayes, Brett Kitrell, Austen Pleasants
The offensive line is in a state of flux. The anchors up front, Joe Lowery and Joe Anderson, are gone. So is Durrell Wood, who seemed to be in an Ohio uniform for about a decade. Those three provided much-needed depth on the offensive line, which doesn’t come often in a Mid-American Conference program.
With that experience, the offensive line allowed just 20 sacks all season, which was in the top half of the country. The Bobcats also ran for 258.5 yards per game on the ground with senior running backs A.J. Ouellette and Maleek Irons, and the offensive line had a lot to do with that success.
Now, the Bobcats must replace the running backs, the veterans on the offensive line and all the production that came with them. But new projected starting center Steven Hayes doesn’t think that’ll be much of an issue.
“The amount of experience those guys brought to the table, it was incredible,” Hayes said. “It was extremely hard to replace guys like that. But we have a great group of guys coming in right now. Every guy across the board has experience, so I think we’re going to do pretty good.”
Confidence and chemistry can go a long way along the new offensive line, and that can be even tougher considering the members of the line have had three different offensive line coaches in three years. Last year, Bart Miller was the first-year offensive line coach. He left for Wyoming in the offseason, and Allen Rudolph took over.
Rudolph is Hayes’ third offensive line coach in as many years, which isn’t easy. But the principles of playing offensive line haven’t changed, even with the coaching turnover. Hayes thinks the offensive line, one with him anchoring at center, can be just as good as last year.
“The level from where we were that first Monday when we started to now,” Hayes said of spring practice. “Coach Rudolph’s doing a great job.”
Defensive line
Lost: Bryan Arp, Kent Berger
New defensive coordinator Ron Collins can’t describe how excited he is in terms of the defensive line. That unit lost utility linemen Bryan Arp and Kent Berger.
Everyone else is back for 2019.
Will Evans, Austin Conrad and Cole Baker are just a few of the names to lead a talented and deep defensive line that allowed just 137.1 yards on the ground per game a season ago. Evans and Conrad set the edges for the Bobcats, while a cast of big bodies clog the middle for the Bobcats. The defense struggled to pressure quarterbacks early in the season, and it led to chunk plays in bulk. But by the end of the season, the Bobcats still had 25 sacks and 75 tackles for loss as a defense.
Bringing nearly everyone back after putting up those numbers could be a warning sign for opposing offenses.
“We’ll be strong up front,” Baker said with a smile.
Baker is a run stopper who can hit the quarterback occasionally. Conrad and Evans get after the quarterback in the pass rush. Other guys can do a little bit of everything, as well. With the loss of the two veterans, Baker’s trying to become a leader.
The senior who came to Ohio from a junior college has embraced a leadership role. Now that he’s been here for a full year, he’s ready to take the next step. His teammates expect that, and his coaches expect that.
“We’ve got guys up front that have to emerge as leaders,” Collins said.
Baker also sees younger guys rising along the defensive line so far in spring practice. Names like Amos Ogun-Semore, Zach Burks, Antrez Baker and Amir Miller are popping up and making plays. Older guys who have been buried in the depth chart, such as Sam McKnight, are going to have their opportunities, too.
Long story short, this line will have depth.
