Line play is our biggest issue!

[Bisonator98]

The biggest issue for this team is the offensive and defensive line play. We used to be more talented, bigger and more physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball then anyone else in FCS. We've lost that edge right now and need to get it back if we want to dominate again. SDSU's lines are better then ours right now. Heck even UIW held up to ours and Samford wasn't far behind either. Coaches need to make this a priority going into the off season!

[tolnabison]

The biggest issue for this team is the offensive and defensive line play. We used to be more talented, bigger and more physical at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball then anyone else in FCS. We've lost that edge right now and need to get it back if we want to dominate again. SDSU's lines are better then ours right now. Heck even UIW held up to ours and Samford wasn't far behind either. Coaches need to make this a priority going into the off season!

I really thought our interior offensive line would be better. Westburg, Jensen, and Kubas never seemed to control the A-gap. Which this program usually prides itself on doing. I think the staff is seeing that issue by offering two centers in the portal in Jack Hasz from Buffalo and Isaac Zatechka from Missouri. I feel like there is an emphasis on getting strong on the interior. We also get Sundell back from injury.

[HerdBot]

Our O-line is fine but we recruit little guys now on the D-line. 6-1 to 6-2 guys. They get pushed back by a power running game and then our undersized linebackers struggle.

2021 guys we lost

Brayden Thomas DE - 6'3" 260 lbs
Lane Tucker DT - 6'3" 280 lbs
Coster Ching DT - 6'4" 284 lbs

Now our Dline has many smaller guys in the rotation

DT
Javier Derrit - 6'1" 279 lbs
Jaxon Duttenhefer - 6'1" 280 lbs
Will Moestart - 6'2" 260 lbs

DE
Jake Kava - 6'1" 243 lbs
Tony Pierce - 6'1" 242 lbs
Kole Menz - 6'2" 230 lbs

We have some good young size we can develop.
DT Kody Huisman has some good size 6'4" 279 lbs but he's young and will improve. He played a lot of games as a freshman.
DT Josh Magin is young but has potential at 6'5" 261 lbs.
DT Logan Larson has some potential at 6'3" 262 lbs
DE Kelton McCaslin 6'5" 222 lbs
DE Toby Anene - 6'3" 250 lbs

Historically our top DE's are a minimum of 6-3 (Emmanual) and the are usually 6-4 to 6-5 range. (Jirek, Hardie, Tuzska, Boyer) The DT is usually lean 6-4, 290 (Leevon, Tanguay, Karcz, Morgan, Luecke, Williams) and the other DT can be a bit smaller like Schaetz 6-1, 290 or Aaron Steidl (6-2, 280)

There are exceptions obviously, but we usually have a rotation full of big tall athletic guys.

[Bisonator98]

Our O-line is fine but we recruit little guys now on the D-line. 6-1 to 6-2 guys. They get pushed back by a power running game and then our undersized linebackers struggle.

2021 guys we lost

Brayden Thomas DE - 6'3" 260 lbs
Lane Tucker DT - 6'3" 280 lbs
Coster Ching DT - 6'4" 284 lbs

Now our Dline has many smaller guys in the rotation

DT
Javier Derrit - 6'1" 279 lbs
Jaxon Duttenhefer - 6'1" 280 lbs
Will Moestart - 6'2" 260 lbs

DE
Jake Kava - 6'1" 243 lbs
Tony Pierce - 6'1" 242 lbs
Kole Menz - 6'2" 230 lbs

We have some good young size we can develop.
DT Kody Huisman has some good size 6'4" 279 lbs but he's young and will improve. He played a lot of games as a freshman.
DT Josh Magin is young but has potential at 6'5" 261 lbs.
DT Logan Larson has some potential at 6'3" 262 lbs
DE Kelton McCaslin 6'5" 222 lbs
DE Toby Anene - 6'3" 250 lbs

Historically our top DE's are a minimum of 6-3 (Emmanual) and the are usually 6-4 to 6-5 range. (Jirek, Hardie, Tuzska, Boyer) The DT is usually lean 6-4, 290 (Leevon, Tanguay, Karcz, Morgan, Luecke, Williams) and the other DT can be a bit smaller like Schaetz 6-1, 290 or Aaron Steidl (6-2, 280)

There are exceptions obviously, but we usually have a rotation full of big tall athletic guys.

You think so? I think there's plenty of room for improvement. We also lose Mauch and Jensen. They didn't open up much running room against SDSU.

[HerdBot]

You think so? I think there's plenty of room for improvement. We also lose Mauch and Jensen. They didn't open up much running room against SDSU.

Feels like we hardly ran the ball first half. It was like 40 yards rushing. These guys are better run blocking than pass pro

[CAS4127]

Feels like we hardly ran the ball first half. It was like 40 yards rushing. These guys are better run blocking than pass pro

40 yards because we couldn’t run the ball, not because we didn’t try.

[TAILG8R]

You think so? I think there's plenty of room for improvement. We also lose Mauch and Jensen. They didn't open up much running room against SDSU.


40 yards because we couldn’t run the ball, not because we didn’t try.

My thoughts exactly. All the talk this year about having the best o-line yet and it feels like it was VERY hot and miss with not only how much push we got(which is most concerning to me) and opening holes. I remember more long plays where the RB squeezed through the line than in the past where they were waltzing through hallway wide holes.


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[HerdBot]

40 yards because we couldn’t run the ball, not because we didn’t try.

We abandoned it early and it worked for a few drives. Good Bison teams stick with it no matter what although we ended up with 160 in the 2nd half