Offensive line needs addressed

For a team built on the foundation of pounding the rock, establishing household-name running backs behind offensive lines with All-Americans, 2011 was a monumental fall from grace for Oregon State.

The Beavers finished 118th (out of 120 NCAA FBS teams) in rushing yards per game, a clear indication that the quality of the offensive line had slipped from its usual production.

"The last couple years, [the running game has] been disappointing," said offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh. "It's down to your attitude as an offensive lineman, your pride that you have to have to be able to knock the guy off the ball and kick his ass. I think we've missed that mentality."

It was clear from the moment OSU's 3-9 season came to a conclusion that they were going to be putting a lot of emphasis on the offensive line in their off-season recruiting plans.

The Beavers inked seven offensive line recruits on Wednesday's National Signing Day, reinforcing the glaring need for some new blood up front.

"We needed to get some offensive linemen, so I'm really excited about this group," said Oregon State head coach Mike Riley.

Aside from the subpar production that the line has provided in recent years, OSU also lost a number of proven starters who had been permanent fixtures.

Three of the five regular starters from last year's squad — Mike Remmers, Grant Johnson and Burke Ellis — were seniors. Their veteran status will be missed.

"Obviously, their experience is going to be the big thing," Cavanaugh said. "When you look at Remmers and Grant Johnson, they started a lot of games for us, so obviously experience is going to be the key in what we're losing."

Losing seniors is a part of life in college football, and the team has to, and will, move on.

"One of the things I always tell my offensive line guys is the game stays the same, but the faces change," Cavanaugh said.

Now, with the seven newly-signed linemen, OSU will have an abundance of fresh, new talent at their disposal for four more years.

"We lost quite a few guys the last two years, so this was big for us," Cavanaugh said. "We're excited about it and I can't wait to start coaching these guys. It was obviously a big need and we filled that with the group we've got coming in."

Some highly-touted recruits are among those joining the ranks in the offensive line. Isaac Seumalo (four-star recruit, third-ranked guard nationally, according to Rivals), Grant Bays (10th-ranked center), and five more three- or two-star linemen, will be the core of what hopes to be the next great OSU offensive line.

"All of them have a lot of upside," Cavanaugh said. "So we're excited about them. They bring a lot of different things to the table – something that we've been missing."

One of those elements: leadership.

"I think there's some leaders coming in," Cavanaugh said. "We had missed that flat out. Some guys might have thought they were being leaders, but they weren't. It's probably pretty harsh, but I think we've missed that tremendously."

This group of young freshman may be an exception to one of OSU's normal rules about true freshman linemen.

"Normally I would say offensive linemen are automatic redshirt candidates, just for growth and development and all that they have to learn," Riley said. "But I think we could see some impact from this group right away."

"There's some people in this group who can come in because they're ass-kickers," Cavanaugh added.

The only returning O-line starters to this team are right tackle Colin Kelly, who will be a senior in the fall, and guard Josh Andrews, who sprained his MCL in the second game of the season and was very limited for the remainder of the season. But it's been made clear that no one is guaranteed a spot for the fall.

OSU is excited for this new class of linemen to come in right away and contribute to this team and to bring them back to the days of old when a good Oregon State offensive line was the norm.

"This isn't about having fun, it's about beating people up, establishing yourself on the field," Cavanaugh said. "So we've got to have that nastiness back, and I think it's coming back."

Warner Strausbaugh, sports writer

Twitter: @WStrausbaugh

sports@dailybarometer.com