O-line music
>> Editor’s Note: In this story, left tackle Bryan Bulaga is listed and referred to as Iowa’s starter. But a Thursday afternoon report on 1460 KXNO in Des Moines said the preseason second-team All-American would miss Saturday’s game against Iowa State. The Daily Iowan was unable to confirm such reports; it sent this week’s PreGame to print before it learned of the report.
Welcome to musical chairs, featuring the Iowa offensive line.
It’s springtime in Iowa City, and “Enter Sandman” is blaring in the background. As spring ball begins without all-world tailback Shonn Greene, Iowa’s offensive line is thought to be one of the team’s main strengths. But everyone in the group is just hoping to find a spot at one of the five open chairs before the spring is over and the music stops.
Everyone watching the Hawkeyes’ spring scrimmage at the Kenyon Practice Facility admits it seems a little weird without offensive linemen Rob Bruggeman and Seth Olsen on the field. Both have finished up their time at Iowa, and they await the NFL draft.
Bruggeman, who started all 13 games at center for the Hawkeyes last season, bloomed late in his career after coming to Iowa as a walk-on. He was an essential cog in the offensive line that produced huge running lanes for Greene as he galloped for 1,850 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Similarly, Olsen’s performance at right guard earned him first-team All-American honors from Rivals.com in 2008, leaving a gaping hole in the right center of Iowa’s line. Senior Rafael Eubanks would seem to be Bruggeman’s replacement at center, but Olsen’s spot remains open.
Iowa’s two most-experienced returnees include tackles Bryan Bulaga and Kyle Calloway. Between them, they have 43-consecutive starts, and they give the Hawkeyes arguably the best returning tackle combination in the country.
But perhaps the highlight of the spring scrimmage is seeing Dace Richardson get playing time at left guard beside Bulaga. Coming onto campus in Iowa’s much-hyped 2005 recruiting class as the No. 8 offensive tackle in the country, Richardson had reconstructive knee surgery in 2007.
Because of various setbacks and more injuries, he hasn’t seen any action since Sept. 29, 2007, against Indiana.
“That’s probably one of the best stories, if not the best story of the spring,” Ferentz said on April 18 after Iowa’s spring scrimmage. “I don’t think any of us would have predicted with confidence that this could happen. … I would think he’ll be a lot better player here by September than he is in March and April.”
Summer camp has arrived, and the Hawkeyes are proudly playing the “Iowa Fight Song” as they continue to train for the season. As if the losses of Greene, Olsen, and Bruggeman aren’t enough for Ferentz to deal with, he is forced to suspend senior right tackle Kyle Calloway after a OWI arrest on June 20. The music stops again, and everyone tries to find his chair.
Maybe more troubling than Calloway’s one-game suspension is guard Julian Vandervelde’s unspecified injury that he suffered earlier in the summer, keeping him out a substantial amount of time. The Davenport native started the final eight games last season at left guard.
In the absence of Vandervelde, Dan Doering has emerged at right guard. Also a member of Iowa’s 2005 recruiting class, Doering came in even more hyped than Richardson, a five-star recruit and the No. 4 offensive tackle in the country. For the time being, he has found one of the open chairs.
Sophomore Adam Gettis and senior Andy Kuempel, however, are still left standing.
With all of the attention on Vandervelde’s injury and Calloway’s suspension, Eubanks has quietly progressed at center. The St. Paul, Minn., native, who played both left and right guard last season, has adjusted well to his new role thus far, Ferentz said.
“[Eubanks] had a good month of August,” the coach said on Sept. 1. “It was the most consistent stretch he’d had in recollection. That goes back through camp last year, through the season, through spring practice.
“I think he’s really had his best stretch of football since he’s been here.”
Ferentz estimates Vandervelde missed an upwards of 20 practices to this point — something the 11-year head coach characterizes as a “huge part of the preseason” — leaving a big hill for the junior to climb in the coming weeks.
It’s the week leading up to Iowa’s opener against Northern Iowa. The Hawkeyes are getting ready by booming “Back in Black.” They only wish they could get Vandervelde back in time for the contest, but Ferentz says that’s not going to happen. Calloway will also miss the contest because of his suspension, leaving Richardson to fill in his place. Lots of chairs available this time as the music abruptly comes to an end.
All of the shuffling of the depth chart is starting to get comical for Ferentz. Well, not comical, but what else can he do other than crack a joke to open his Sept. 1 press conference?
“I joked on the Big Ten Network, Nolan McMillan, who’s a freshman lineman, who’s a math major, and I’m going to ask him to work on what the probabilities were of us having so many lineups last spring or this past camp.”
Yes, an entirely different lineup from one the Hawkeyes planned on in the spring will trot out for the Northern Iowa game — LT Bulaga, LG Gettis, C Eubanks, RG Doering, and RT Richardson.
At this point, Vandervelde is nearly 100 percent and almost ready to return to the field, but that will have to wait another week.
“I am feeling all right, but looking at the practice field, the guys we got in there are doing a good job, whichever five we have out there Saturday are going to do just as well,” Vandervelde said on Sept. 1.
The kickoff for Iowa’s contest at hated rival Iowa State is 24 hours away, and the Hawkeyes are making their final preparations with “On Iowa” bellowing in the background. With suspensions over and injuries healed, Ferentz has all of his cherished offensive linemen at his disposal. A two-hour drive to Ames and the Cyclones awaits them. Iowa can only hope the line performs better than it did against Northern Iowa. The music stops, but this time, there are no chairs available.
The song and dance is presumably finished.
Vandervelde won’t start, but Ferentz said he will play. Calloway’s suspension is finished, and he and Bulaga will start their 44th game together at 11 a.m. in Jack Trice Stadium. And Eubanks will finally get to play next to Richardson again, with whom he developed a rapport during the spring.
“When you play next to somebody, you kind of get a feel for how he’s playing and the way he does things,” Eubanks said. “So you kind of get a sense of [comfort] with that. If you switch somebody else in, you kind of have to learn how he plays things and stuff like that.”
That was never more apparent than in the Northern Iowa game, when miscommunication during the Panthers’ stunts up front led to five sacks. In fact, two sacks late in the first half, when Ferentz’s squad was down 10-3, cost Iowa a chance to put some valuable points on the board.
Though the Hawks squeaked out a 17-16 win, the line had trouble opening holes for running backs Paki O’Meara and Adam Robinson, averaging only 2.8 yards per carry on the ground.
Certainly, it has been a long road back for Ferentz and the Iowa offensive line, and the Northern Iowa game was part of that struggle. But if you choose to believe the 11-year head coach and the men up front, the Hawkeyes’ line is finally at full strength.
“I think it’s just getting a starting five set and put in place,” Bulaga said. “It’s kind of been a musical-chairs deal right now. Getting a [starting] five … in there … is going to be a big deal.”
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