“I heard it so much (at the Big Ten media kickoff) in Chicago that it’s ingrained in the back of my mind,” senior Seth Olsen said of the league-high number of sacks Iowa’s line gave up in 2007.
“I heard other numbers, too, like we had 13 more than any other Big Ten team. It stings a little bit. It’s something we’re definitely going to improve on this year.”
The group was young — a freshman, three sophomores and a junior starting — and could ill afford to be hit by injury, which it was. Dace Richardson was lost to what turned out to be a career-ending knee injury before the season, and Rob Bruggeman missed the entire year after tearing an ACL. Both were projected starters.
Now, the Hawkeyes return all their starters on the line — and all the backups — and Bruggeman is back healthy, so they’re better built to withstand the injuries that are sure to come.
They’re preaching experience now, and, yes, they are experienced. But they’re far from proven.
In addition to the nearly four sacks allowed a game, the line failed to open holes for Iowa’s running backs, as the Hawkeyes ranked 10th in the conference in rushing yards at 126.2 per outing.
The offseason film sessions were brutal, but position coach Reese Morgan says it’s a simple fix.
“There are things we need to work on from a fundamental standpoint,” Morgan said. “Obviously, the sacks and how we can do a better job of that from an individual standpoint and a schematic standpoint. We’ve looked at them all, and most the sacks were a breakdown by a lineman, and it comes down to fundamentals.”
| Position breakdowns | |||
| Saturday: Special teams STORY I GLANCE | |||
| Sunday: Defensive backs STORY I GLANCE | |||
| Monday: Linebackers STORY I GLANCE | |||
| Tuesday: Defensive line STORY I GLANCE | |||
| Today: Offensive line STORY I GLANCE | |||
| Thursday: Receivers/Ends | |||
| Friday: Running backs | |||
| Saturday: Quarterbacks |
Contact Eric Page at (563) 383-2277 or epage@qctimes.com.
Jebus wrote on Aug 20, 2008 12:11 PM:
It seems to me that if someone hits 3 bills in high school that they are going to be mostly fat whereas if someone starts at 250 as a freshman and builds up to 300 in college then it will be more muscle.
Most of the best lineman are going to be late bloomers with the "Bulagas" being the exception. "