Buckeyes hope offensive line jells quickly

By Ken Gordon

The Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS

On the surface, Justin Boren fits the stereotype of an offensive lineman — big and thick, usually with a scowl on his face that says, ‘Go away.’

The guard certainly is talented enough physically. After transferring from Michigan and sitting out a year, he started 12 games at left guard last season for Ohio State.

But there’s more to playing the line than that.

“I think Justin has really got to improve from a communication standpoint,” coach Jim Tressel said. “Justin likes to just go block somebody, and sometimes he forgets there’s 10 others. So he’s got to get better at that.”

In other words, Boren needs to be fluent in a language other than grunt. Maybe that’s why Tressel chose Boren as one of six players to chat with reporters before preseason camp started.

“I guess that’s something I’ll work on this camp,” Boren said.

Part of this is Tressel’s effort to poke and prod his players into improvement — to fine-tune their skills. But part of it likely is a desire to avoid the early-season struggles that so many recent offensive lines have had.

With four starters and three experienced reserves back, the Buckeyes are hoping they won’t repeat the fits and starts that slowed them in 2009. Over the first seven games, they averaged 331 total yards, including 157 rushing yards and 4.2 yards per carry. The Buckeyes went 5-2.

Over the final six games, those numbers improved to 413, 240 and 4.8. Ohio State won all six.

“I can’t really point at exactly one thing [that led to the struggles],” right guard Bryant Browning said. “This year, we really need to focus in early in the season and start rolling and keep rolling.”

Continuity should help. Ohio State used six starting combinations last year. Only five times did they use the same starting lineup two weeks in a row. Now, the lineup is pretty set: Boren at left guard, Michael Brewster at center, Browning at right guard and J.B. Shugarts at right tackle.

The left tackle job is open, which appears alarming at first glance. But two players who started games there last year are competing — Mike Adams (four starts) and Andrew Miller (three), as well as possibly Marcus Hall, who started once at right tackle, or even Shugarts.

“There should be no reason why it would take a couple weeks [to jell],” Boren said.