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Will CU own the line of scrimmage in 2010?

Will CU own the line of scrimmage?

  • OL & DL will own

    Votes: 4 6.3%
  • OL will own, but DL will get owned

    Votes: 3 4.8%
  • DL will own, but OL will get owned

    Votes: 5 7.9%
  • OL & DL will get owned

    Votes: 9 14.3%
  • Mixed results - OL & DL up and down all season

    Votes: 42 66.7%

  • Total voters
    63

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
Every starter returns on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Is this the year that both units gel?
 
Every starter returns on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Is this the year that both units gel?

At first glance, it isn't just super uplifting to hear that the same people who didn't perform up to expectations last year are back again.

However, it is great that they all have experience and another year under their belt working with each other (and hopefully some more weight under those belts too). I think/hope that we will see a significant improvement this year. Maybe even the emergence of a balanced offense???
 
At first glance, it isn't just super uplifting to hear that the same people who didn't perform up to expectations last year are back again.

However, it is great that they all have experience and another year under their belt working with each other (and hopefully some more weight under those belts too). I think/hope that we will see a significant improvement this year. Maybe even the emergence of a balanced offense???
We won't have a balanced offense unless a new RB steps up. Speedy is not an every down back and I don't think BLock is either.
 
Every starter returns on both the offensive and defensive lines.

Is this the year that both units gel?

They need to show me on the field they can perform quarter to quarter - game to game. The last couple of years the lines do not perform series to series.
 
I think the OL will be much improved and Solder has a real possibility of an outland trophy and first round draft pick. MIller and Givens will be good this year too. The DL, I worry about.
 
I remain positive that both will improve. I do believe there is some talent on both sides. Whether they are properly coached is another story. I sure hope so.
 
Sweet, so far I am the only sunshine pumper.

My reasoning for the o-line doing well hinges on Ryan Miller. If he is healthy, and stays at right guard for the entire season, then I think the o-line will do great.
The start of last season was terrible, and I would say 60% of that was due to line play. I blame part of this on the philosophy of trying the get the best 5 guys on the field. We had Itilis learning a new position, Miller learning a new position, and Givens playing without any college experience. Then we spent most of the time trying to find a LG. In the 09 off season we had to replace 3DL starters, and the only guy with experience (Herrod) practiced against Solder. The rest of the DL was green and trying to learn their roles. Pericak was leaning a new position, and how to work with the guys around him. The DL was trying to learn their responsibilities and did not challenging the o-line, and vice versa. In the beginning of the season the o-line couldn’t handle a stunt, had more missed assignments then you can count, and didn’t know how to trust the guy next to them since 4 of the 5 were trying to figure out what they were supposed to do. By the end of the year Miller made the second team All-American sophomore team for college football news, due in large part to how he handled Suh in the last game. That is also why he is on the Outland trophy list, and Phil Steel’s 1st team Big 12 at RG. Against NU we only gave up on sack, far fewer than our 4.4 average for the season. If Miller stays at RG, and RT is handled by Givens/Harris/Tau that will help to develop continuity on the line. Stevens seems to have the center position figured out, and is on the watch list for the Rimington Award (best center in the country). I think the LG position will no longer be a weakness as we have Itilis with experience, and MTM, Adkins, Daniels, & Handler to fight for time. Also, all of these guys have experience in the system, and playing with one another. I do feel they will continue to improve, and will own the line the majority of the time.

On a side note, how weird would it be to see Speedy change from making his first move 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage to a yard in front?

The defensive line will be much improved as well. I did select they will be dominant, but even for me that is a stretch. Will Pericak made Phil Steel’s 4th line in the Big 12 at DT, and he was the highest ranking guy we have on the line. He did make the All-American freshman team in 2009, which isn’t bad for a guy who was a red-shirt freshman at a new position. Other than the potential in Pericak, no one else on the line has made a pre-season watch list. Herrod is a senior who has spent the last two years battling against Solder, which should help him get improve. The question for me will be how do we use Kasa? Is he second string to Herrod or does he go to the other DE spot? Getting pressure on the QB from the end without blitzing will be key for our defense. If Kasa or Herrod require a TE/RB to stay in and help block, then the rest of the defense will only benefit from that. The other big question will be who is the guy next to Pericak? Does Cunningham hold the spot, even if he is a little undersized, or is Bonsu going to be healthy for the season. Will Gore ever step up, or will Obi show with his new girth that he can help clog the middle. If the two big questions get answered in a positive way, then the DL will really help out the defensive unit.

The last thing that will help both OL and DL is the fact that Taj Kanyor was the only player to graduate from either side of the ball. Each of our players will be more experienced than last year, which will only help.
 
I have no confidence that anything will happen other than our lines getting manhandled nearly every snap. Just like the last several seasons.
 
Richter and Bonsu are the keys to the trenches. I expect that the returning starters (Solder, Miller, Stevens, Iltis, Givens on the OL; and Herrod, Pericak, Cunningham, Kasao on the DL) will all get better this year and the unit will move forward. However the LG/C combo plays out will be the key to the protection for our QB. Richter/Iltis or Iltis/Stevens are good combos IMO. If Givens isn't ready start dominating then I wouldn't mind seeing Richter play RG and bump Miller to RT. The need for top-notch interior depth is what makes Richter the key to the OL (Iltis being a "known" quantity).

Bonsu is very much needed on the DL. Cunningham and Pericak continue to grow both literally and mentally into BCS players, while Herrod is studly and Kasa should be ready to "go off" with a healthy season. If Bonsu and West can bring a healthy experienced rotation to the unit they could be real sleeper group, but without Bonsu we are razor thin up the gut.

Watching our WR depth get shredded this off-season, I am too cautious getting excited about these groups either, but talent-wise as of right now, I think they will be above-average which will look like "owning" compared to past seasons.
 
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I'm having nightmarish flashbacks of that little Eastern Washington guy running around our OL every play.
 
I'm not really sure what to make of our OL. From what I could tell the entire thing sucked, but apparently we had two big time performers playing. I guess if we fix the LG situation they should improve. I mean, how could they not? The OL coach returned and hopefully Miller won't be changing from RG to RT every other week, maybe Givens can even play every week this year!

DL seemed pretty good considering how young they were last year, I figure they're likely to improve if just by getting older and bigger. I think we will be okay in this department next year.
 
The OL has no excuses not to be dominating. You have a NFL talent with size and all these measurables at LT, you have a 5 star behemoth at RG, a 4 star talent at RT, and what, 7 other guys with starting or playing experience for the other two spots?

We'll see right off the bat, if they can't push csu's inexperienced and undersized dl back and keep them off the qb, we are in trouble.


DL has a ton of experience back but they have to somehow get to the qb without the blitz, Our blitz schemes never seem to work most of the time. Also, cu has to get much tougher vs the run. If csu's INEXPERIENCED OL pushes cu around again we are in serious trouble.

Dominating is a strong word, I'd go with improved at this time.
 
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