The best five: Why an experienced offensive line will make a difference in 2016

The key to any successful offense is offensive line play, down in the trenches, wining the line of scrimmage. Often the unsung heroes of the team, the “big uglies” are not the stars you notice on the stat sheet, but you will notice them when the team has multiple tallies in the loss column.  Like a well-oiled engine, people do not always notice when things are running smoothly, but the minute one piece is out of alignment, the whole system comes crashing down. 

Great offensive lines are five men working in unison as one; Colorado State football has the experience and talent up front to be one. And on Tuesday, head coach Mike Bobo joked and said, as many coaches say, he’s “Looking for the best five,” which will undoubtedly include center/guard Jake Bennett.

The Rams return four starting offensive lineman from 2015, who ranked 10th nationally, allowing 4.6 tackles for loss per game, and 22nd with just 17 sacks allowed last year. Losing right tackle Sam Carlson is a big blow for the Ram offense, but with four experienced linemen returning in 2016, the state of the o-line is something the coaches are excited for this spring.

After Friday’s first spring practice, junior center Jake Bennett spoke of the importance of experience on the offensive line, and being more comfortable in the system in the second year under Mike Bobo.

“It helps a lot with communication and stuff like that,” Bennett said of working together with his line mates. “It’s not going to be the same lineup as last year, there’s definitely going to be guys moving around. Other than that, with four returning guys, I think there’s going to be steps (up). Guys are just going to be able to communicate so much better.”

With the Georgia style ground-and-pound offense, Bobo puts a great deal of the communication responsibilities not just on the quarterback, but on the big uglies.

“The line are able to communicate and understand,” Bobo said after the team’s first spring practice, Friday. “We put a lot of it not just on our quarterback to get us in the right place.

“The faster we can recognize, the faster we can communicate, the faster we can go. That’s a big plus for us having four guys back. Especially the center. I think as the year went on, Jake Bennett got better and better,” Bobo continued.

“I think he is still not one hundred percent from his injuries, but he’s starting to understand what we were doing offensively. He gets it,” Bobo said of Bennett. “He’s always up there with coach (Will) Friend, him and Fred Zerblis, trying to learn more. That’s what you want. Guys around wanting to learn, preparing themselves, and it’s going to be really big for us how they’re able to communicate. Experience is always valuable.”

After being spotlighted as a guy Bobo sees as a team leader, Bennett showed poise and humility, immediately addressing the hard work his teammates have been putting in this offseason.

“It’s special, but there’s definitely a bunch of other guys that have showed what they can do this offseason,” Bennett told BSN Denver Friday.

“I think we as leaders need to bring them along. These younger guys gotta fill the roles, (left behind) by Rashard (Higgins), (Joe) Hansley, Kivon  (Cartwright).”

A leader on and off the field, Bennett displays the will and desire to win that would make any coach proud. His football savvy is beyond his years, being able to read defenses schematically and help the offense adjust. Having intelligent, football-minded young men like Bennett on the o-line makes a huge difference with on-field communication; could the offense take a major step forward this season? 

With the tempo of offense Bobo and the coaching staff would like to play at, there are few things more important than on-field communication. In the Jim McElwain offense at CSU, the attack was more airborne, with the quarterback making multiple reads at the line of scrimmage. Bobo brought the ground-and-pound attack to Fort Collins, and in the second half of the 2015 season, that scheme really started to click well with this offensive group.

In the last five games of the season, including the Arizona Bowl, the CSU offense rushed for at least 200 yards in every matchup, including a season-high 325 rushing yards against UNLV.  Sure, having a talented trio of running backs played a large factor with those impressive statistics, but without the play of the guys in the trenches, none of it would have been possible.

In the second half of the season, the Rams rushing attack was one of the best in the nation, something Bennett commended his teammates for.

“If you go and watch the New Mexico game last year, we definitely put it on our backs and finished out the game,” the junior center/guard explained. “To be able to do that as an offensive line if something special, to put be able to put in on our backs and close out games like that.”

If the Rams can see similar rushing success early in the season, 2016 could be a very exciting campaign for Bobo and the Rams, but it all starts in the trenches with the big uglies.