When Keven Lightner, Ohio offensive line coach, walks through the Peden Stadium weight room, he more often than not sees one of “his guys,” past or present.
The Bobcats had some of their program-best offensive linemen play their final snaps last season, several of whom have stuck around and are training for potential professional opportunities. They, coupled with a young crop of blue chips, have kept the bench press, squat rack and everything in between plenty full.
“The big thing for me is to not do the minimum in the weight room,” Lightner said. “The three seniors that we lost, you have to kick them out of the weight room. Those guys are still around and they’re feeding off of that.”
Ohio has had fewer players on the practice field this spring because of injuries to four potential starters. That could be looked at negatively, because some of the regulars aren’t on the field taking reps. Ohio, however, chooses to look at it positively, because those four slots are being filled by younger players.
When a team aims to have 16 offensive linemen in the saddle come kickoff — as many as 10 of whom will play any given day — building a deep bench is key, Lightner said.
One of Lightner’s first tasks has been training a replacement for outgoing center Vince Carlotta, whom he labeled “the best center to ever play here.”
That task is not short in the tooth, though.
He said he’s been grooming redshirt sophomore Lucas Powell for the role for the past two seasons, and redshirt junior Mark Smith is making a move to contend for the position as well.
The Bobcats are in the portion of their spring schedule when they hit the gridiron only three times a week, which leaves room for more meetings and position-by-position breakdowns — things Smith, a converted guard, said are key for someone learning the leadership role of a center.
“For the center, you’re making the calls and fronts,” he said. “I’m learning along the way.
“The whole offense is just like one cohesive unit, so if (Powell and I) make the right call we’ll all be on the same page.”
As far as redshirt senior running back Beau Blankenship is concerned, the transition from last year’s senior-laden line to this year’s younger group has been smooth.
He said there hasn’t been a lack of holes for him and his fellow running backs.
“Everything we do is non-verbal, and they’re getting that down,” Blankenship said. “There’s not too many assignments, I feel. From my point of view, I don’t see too many mess-ups.”
Lightner said Ohio’s injured offensive linemen — including redshirt seniors Sam Johnson, Ryan McGrath and John Prior — are on track to return in time for the season, and that redshirt senior Jon Lechner “could be taking individual reps” now, but the Bobcats are erring on the side of caution.
With the infusion of youth into its regular repertoire, Ohio knows there’s speculation about how well its line will fair this season but rebuts that there will be any drop-off in performance.
“There is a lot of question, but we’re all ready and ready to show there’s no step back with us coming in,” Powell said.
jr992810@ohiou.edu
