There’s an old football ad age stating that games will be won and lost in the trenches.
The trenches will be a point of focus for Ohio leading up to the season opener against Louisville at Papa John’s Car dinal Stadium, as the Bobcats will face one of the most well-rounded squads since coach Frank Solich’s tenure began at Ohio.
Not only do the Cardinals feature a two-headed at tack with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and running back Michael Dyer, but they lost only one player on their de fense that ranked 23rd in the country last season in yards al lowed per game.
The line Ohio will send out to face the defensive unit is fairly green behind the ears, losing three starters in New York Giants seventh-round pick right guard Eric Her man, center Skylar Allen and left guard Vince Carlotta, who started 10 games.
Replacing the talent won’t be easy, but Solich is confident that his team is capable of building another offensive line that will be able to replicating the 27th best rushing attack in the NCAA from last season.
“We’re rebuilding the of fensive line a little bit,” Solich said. “But our starting tackles are back and we’ll have good depth at tackle. Our inside people, for the most part, have all played some football, and I believe we’ll have some depth behind them.”
Senior right tackle Mark Mc Grath, who started all but two games last season, acknowl edged the talent that gradu ated but sees promise in the players who will be filling the interior line.
“We lost some great guys,” McGrath said. “But we have a lot of younger guys who are going to step up this year. I know this because of the work they put in in the weight room this year and their work over all. Our offensive line strength is as good as it’s ever been.”
McGrath will be flanked on the left side by fellow seniors John Prior, a left tackle, and Jon Lechner, a left guard, who start ed 13 and 12 games for the Bob cats last season, respectively.
Junior Mark Smith and sophomore Lucas Powell will compete for the center job and senior Sam Johnson will return to right guard after missing most of 2012 because of injury. Between the three, they totaled only seven game appearances, while Smith was a redshirt.
But redshirt senior quarter back Tyler Tettleton, the primary man McGrath and company will be attempting to protect, is con fident in his teammates’ abili ties to give him time to breathe in the pocket.
“Those guys that were play ing behind (Herman and Al len) got some really good reps last year in games,” Tettleton said. “And, you know, we had spring ball and the summer for them to get used to everything, so it really doesn’t seem like we’re getting anybody fresh or brand new.
“It feels like those guys have been there before and have been playing here for a while, so that’s great to have.”
