Lining Up Nicely

1 comment so far April 21, 2006 by Steve Hanway

It's been a long time since Nebraska had a fearsome offense. Not coincidentally, it's been a long time since they had a fearsome offensive line. What happened? Bad recruiting, under-recruiting and just plain bad luck. Rome wasn't built in a day. Offensive lines take even longer.

Rewind to the recruiting class of 1998. Coming off a national championship but with Frank Solich set to become the head man Nebraska's haul of offensive lineman was Wes Cody, Nate Kolterman, and Matt Shook. Who? Exactly. John Garrison is recruited as a rush end but is later needed at center.

Coming off the bumps and bruises of the first 4-loss season in 30 years, Nebraska reloaded with (are you ready?): Toniu Fonoti (yeah, All-American; leaves early - boo), Dan Waldrop (hey, at least I've heard of him), Jon Dawson (dismissed for his affinity for, ahem, herbal remedies), Tamotu "Junior" Tagoa'i (I'd rather not go into it), Tim Green (an alias? He did go missing for about 4-5 years), Chris Loos (see Tim Green)

Two classes so far and only two starters (three if you count Dan Waldrop)

Off the glorious near BCS title-game season of 1999, Nebraska did a pretty decent job grabbing 4 offensive lineman: Jake Anderson and Mike Erickson (starters!), M.J. Flaum (good prospect, but things didn't work out), and reached a bit on Nick Povendo.

Three years, maybe five starters are we sensing the urgency?

Off a somewhat disappointing 2000 (given NU's pre-season #1 ranking) Nebraska humiliates Northwestern and then grabs two offensive lineman - Richie Incognito (talented, but does not play well with others), Gary Pike (oops). Two nose tackles, Seppo Evwaraye and Jared Helming are later moved to the offensive line for help.

Now NU has added two or three guys that pan out but pretty soon the graduations start mounting up. They can't put together a real enviable two-deep and they have to play young guys.

2001 starts great and ends badly. The beginning of the end. Kurt Mann is brought in (as Fonoti departs). The rest of the bunch Jermaine Leslie, Jemayel Phillips, and Cory Timm are recruited but will never play at NU. Brandon Koch walks on.

2002 makes us all understand what it is to be an Iowa State fan. Solich's last full class includes Greg "no knees" Austin (we love Greg but his body won't let him start), Brett Byford (there's still hope), Darren Delone (sigh), and hot prospect Ryan"blood clots" Schuler (like a six-pack, it felt good at the time). Chris Patrick is brought in as a rush end but is later needed on the offensive line.

2003 is a year the team appears improved but is still a ways off from competing for a Big XII title. The ax falls on Frank and Callahan is left to scramble. Full credit to Frank for landing Nebraskans Andy Christensen and Mike Huff. Bill grabs Lydon Murtha, Danny Muy, and Cornelius Thomas as well. Muy leaves and Cornelius Thomas wins a starting job. The other three guys all appear likely to start in the next year or two. Things are getting back on track.

2004 makes us long for 2002. Now we know what it is to be a Baylor fan. But Bill Callahan gets five offensive lineman in Jacob Hickman (in the mix at center), Rodney and Jordan Picou, Brock Pasteur, and Craig Roark (Craig's now helping shore up the defensive tackle spot).

Then in the Fall of 2005 Matt Slauson magically enters the picture, or as I like to call him "the gift that keeps on giving". As a true fresman, Matt Slauson wins a starting job when injuries arise and helps Nebraska pull off some big wins.

Last year had a feel-good finish and Callahan and company parlayed that into six offensive line recruits, one of whom already practices with the team (junior college transfer Victory Hanes). Look for junior college transfer Carl Nicks to see action early also as he has no redshirt available.

Why relive all that history? It helps us understand how and why things got as bad as they did and why we can be optimistic about the future. A year ago at this time, Dennis Wagner was just trying to find eight guys that could be in the rotation. This year, that's expanded to ten. A change in philosophy? Hardly. There's just more talent.

One reason we're hearing so much about the offense working on the running game, is that for the first time in a long time, NU will have an offensive line that can make some holes. Especially encouraging is that the early two deep looks like this:

Right Tackle - Matt Slauson, Victory Haines
Right Guard - Mike Huff, Brock Pasteur
Center - Kurt Mann, Greg Austin
Left Guard - Andy Christensen, Rodney Picou
Left Tackle - Chris Patrick, Lydon Murtha

Matt "the gift" Slauson could have gone to the Air Force Academy. They don't take morons. He's smart and already physically ready. He also gets to hone his skill against Adam Carriker.

Victory Haines is a physically and mentally mature 23 years of age. He's the fourth tackle right now (Murtha can play on both the right and left side) so he doesn't have to be ready on opening day. They can bring him along at a pace he can handle.

Mike Huff is an unproven commodity at this point. He may have to fight to keep this spot.

Brock Pasteur is supposed to be as strong as an ox with a Soloflex. He's one to watch.

Kurt Mann was second team all conference last year. Assuming he heals up he can be the top center in the league.

Greg Austin has plenty of starting experience. It's a comfort knowing he doesn't have to start, it means NU has other options.

Andy Christensen would have started a year ago if not for injuries. He should be an upgrade at the position.

Rodney Picou was a highly rated prospect out of high school. He may need time but he could be an outstanding player for Nebraska down the road.

Chris Patrick did enough right to get Nebraska through some of it's biggest wins.

Lydon Murtha also played a good amount down the stretch a year ago. He was an all-world recruit coming in. He's still got time to be a good one.

Aside from the good vibes I get from that group the other big plus is that the guards and tackles listed above are all juniors or younger. So while this group can be good in 2006, it can be something really special in 2007. They'll need to be, as the offense will be breaking in a new starter at quarterback. More reason to work on that running game. Of course, the other good thing about 2007 is that by then the recruits arriving this fall will have had the benefit of spring practice. So there could be as many as five or six guys added to the mix with the 8 returning from the two-deep.

Now that sounds like a Nebraska offensive line.

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