Quote:
Originally Posted by General Grant
Took the words right of my mouth. 100% correct because of the offense JLS was running. Don't let the rushing stats confuse you. Those guys were mostly position blocking because of the result of the nickel defense packages the opposing teams were in. Plus, they also had to respect Stanton because of his ability to run the football. That offense was a lot of smoke and mirrors. You could you look at the stats of a game and could have thought we knocked the piss out of them running the ball. Well, we really didn't because of the system. Our guys were not knocking them off the ball. When it worked it was great. Unfortunately when it didn't it looked like a massacre and could not sustain here at MSU. What I respect about Penn State's success is that they have been able to stay somewhat physical with their run blocking. Up front they will knock you off the ball. PSU coaches got that. JLS did not. You are seeing the result today with the performance of what makes and sustains your success as a program-the OL and DL. |
The soonest OL can contribute are their RS soph year. A few exceptions apply, but look at who that leaves us with to help out on the OL
5th year Srs
Nitchman
Cironi
Moss
4th Year Jrs.
Deane
Young
Stipek
RS Sophs
McGaha
Foreman
RS Frosh
Ruhland
Deyo
McDonald
Heuter
True Frosh
Barrent
Klatt
Reynolds
Conway
You need at least 3 OL/class to make it work out. The 4th year Jrs are deceptive because Deane and Stipek have both moved from the DL. In reality, the earliest we could expect a solid OL is next year but 2011 is probably the more realistic goal, when this year's true frosh are RS sophs.
Unlike other positions on the field, there are no short-cuts with OL (DL develops a little faster, as evidenced by Worthy's contribution this year). MD had laid a foundation with his first class, but losing Dumpford to homesickness and Ray to cancer meant that we have a bit of a hole to dig ourselves out from. That is
not MD's fault but it is the reality of the situation. The fact we can have even decent pass protection at the moments is a credit to Roushar, especially since the older OL had several years of JLS 2-point stance training.