OL will be the difference

Sep 20, 2023, 7:33 AM

I am thinking we will know after the first three offensive possessions if we have a chance this weekend. The OL has to show up. If they can't create running lanes, heck gaps, then it will be a very long day. I hope the 3 quarter of last weeks game isn't a sign of what's to come.

I for one and shocked at our poor OL play. I sincerely thought that position group was going to make a major leap and be a strength of this years team. It seems like every plan, at least one O-lineman misses an assignment and the lack of push puzzling. I have yet to see a play this year where they impose their will and knock the D-line backwards and this is against avg. to sub avg. competition.

Is this a strength and conditioning issue? I realize a lot of OL play is technique and leverage but still, it seems like our guys get bullied. It was strange that several OL actually lost weight this year. When comparing our OL to Bama, Georgia, Tenn, Texas, and even Oregon, our guys don't seem to have the same body composition.

Really wish we could crack the code on the OL. I know recruiting rankings aren't everything and OL is by far the most difficult position to project but looking at our current roster of highly rated players, I can't believe we have missed on every single evaluation. Something just doesn't add up. I doubt any of our 5 would start at Bama, LSU, Georgia, Texas, ect.

Saturday will be big boy football, I hope the OL surprises us all. If we can control the line of scrimmage, mount an effective running attack that forces the safeties into the box, I think we have the ability to make some big plays like Brown's TD last week.

We will see...

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Re: OL will be the difference

I think the first problem is OL coaching. If we're going to use zone blocking, the players need to learn the fundamentals of the zone scheme and execute it better. Too many times I see successful defensive slants, twists and stunts. Here's a primer on the difference between zone and drive blocking and what's required of an O-lineman:

https://footballadvantage.com/zone-blocking/

Understanding the Zone Blocking Scheme in Football

The zone blocking scheme is a great way to counter any defensive play that might be called. It provides a lot of advantages for offensive linemen.

The second problem I suspect is strength (or lack of it). There's a difference between strength and conditioning. Good conditioning results in the ability to perform for a longer duration at a given level of effort. Strength is the ability to move an opponent against his will. Our O-linemen seem to have good conditioning, but it's at a lower level of physical effort than what is needed to move the D-line the way we need to in order to open running lanes. More strength coupled with good conditioning should give us a great deal of improvement.

The third problem I see is that we're often zone blocking from a stand-up position and trying to just push the opponent away from the point of attack. I think if we incorporated a drive blocking posture and got lower on the D-linemen, we'd be more successful because we would then be using leg power to move the defenders.

I guess my opinion is that we should use a drive blocking posture within a zone blocking scheme. The hard part wouold be to keep an eye on the second level while engaged with a defender - but then that goes back to coaching.

I'll check with Dabo and let you know what he says.... <img border=