Purdue offensive line worthy of respect

By Keith Thomas
Summer Editor

Ingredients for protecting a Heisman Trophy candidate: 1,504 pounds of Boilermaker beef. Add a healthy dash of senior leadership and stir in nine years of starter experience and you have the makeup for an impressive offensive line.

A lot of the success of the Purdue football team in recent years stems from a group of under-appreciated guys whose work often goes unnoticed — except by quarterback Drew Brees, for one.

"Our offensive line does not get enough credit," Brees said. "They are our team. I have so much confidence in them."

Brees doesn’t just think of seniors Chukky Okobi, Matt Light, Brandon Gorin, Ian Allen and sophomore Gene Mruczkowski as the heart and soul of a talented Boilermaker team — he also thinks these offensive lineman are at the front of the pack.

"There is no question in my mind that this year we have the best o-line in the country," said Brees.

Light, a senior left tackle, said he can’t predict that they are the best line in the nation with as much confidence as Brees, but he does argue for their group unity.

"As a unit, I don’t think anyone can work as well as we do with each other," said Light, who is favored by many for post-season awards. "We know what each other is going to do before they do it," he said.

The unit has been working well together for three years now and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said the strength of this offensive line is instrumental in how well the Boilers do this season.

"Our success this season offensively will be greatly a part of how well they perform for us," Chaney said. "There’s just no substitute for experience and the kids up front are very good, solid football players.

"We have real high expectations for these kids, because they’ve played so much and they’re damn good."

Allen is expected to compete for the starting right guard job with sophomore Rob Turner and sophomore Kelly Kitchel has also been impressive so far. Junior Sean Rufalo and freshman Jason Eisele are also potential solid players, according to Light.

The expectations are high, but according to Gorin, this football program is still in the proving it stage.

"We’re not going to get the respect until we beat Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State," Gorin said. "Why should we get respect until we beat these teams?"

Although greatly appreciated by coach Joe Tiller’s staff and star quarterback, Okobi, a senior center, said the offensive line receives a different review from the rest of their teammates.

Staying in line with the "Purdue Family" theme, the offensive line has been dubbed "the problem children."

"Since we’re going with the family theme this year, we’re the dysfunctional members of this family," said Okobi.

Light said the reason this group gives Tiller the most grief is because of their offensive line coach, Danny Hope.

"It all starts at the top," Light laughed. "Players are just reflections of their coaches."

What makes this odd is that the group of Boiler offensive linemen are the seemingly quiet, unsung football players — guys that manufacture pride through performances, not press conferences.

"It’s really just the way it’s always been," said Okobi. "The important ones, like coaching staffs from around the nation, know that we’re good. That’s all that really matters to us."

There’s no lack of confidence for this group of quarterback protectors.

"You’ll never find another unit that can run as fast as we can," said Light.

The soft-spoken right tackle, Gorin, added, "You won’t find another unit that has as many good-looking guys as this one."

Of course, Purdue throws the ball more than any other school in the Big Ten. The Boilers also allow the least amount of sacks on the quarterback in the Conference. This feat is impressive when taken into consideration the more times Brees drops back, the more opportunities there are for the Heisman hopeful to take a dive.

This Boiler offensive line is a proud group, and when looking at statistics, it’s justified.

As the backbone to this high-powered passing attack, the Boiler o-line allowed only fifteen sacks out of 568 passing attempts last season. That’s less than one sack for every 37 Brees bombs. In1998, Brees was able to drop back over 37 times again in between sacks as the line allowed only 16 sacks in 594 passing attempts. In 1997, when this line was a lot less experienced, they allowed 21 sacks, which is still not a large number when looking at the fact that Boiler QBs — led by former Boiler Billy Dicken — attempted 457 passes.

Impressive numbers, especially when comparing them to the other powerhouses of the Big Ten Conference.

If averaged the last three seasons of total pass attempts and how many times the quarterback was sacked, Purdue comes out on top for the three year average. Other powerhouses, such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan State, did not have any numbers close to that of the Boilers’.

Wisconsin’s three year average for passing attempts is 230.7 with an average of 24 sacks allowed. That means a Badger QB is eating turf every 9.6 pass attempts. .Ohio State had the lowest pass attempt/sack ratio of the five upper-division teams allowing a sack on an average of every nine passes Michigan quarterbacks hit the dust an average of every 18 passes — even Michigan’s national championship team in 1997 allowed Rose Bowl MVP Brian Griese to get sacked every 18.3 passes. Penn State’s three-year total is half of that of the Wolverines with sacks coming about every 9.9 passes. The other pass-happy school, Michigan State, is sacrificing the quarterback every 11.6 pass attempts.

Purdue’s three-year average in which this veteran line was protecting Tiller’s prized possession — Dicken and Brees could throw over 31 passes before having to concern themselves with the next sack.

Understanding that Purdue is an air-strike offense and Wisconsin had 164 more rushing attempts than passing while schools like Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State feature a more balanced attack does not take away from Brees keeps a clean backside thanks to his offensive line.

If ever there were a chance for the Boiler offense to have a great season and Brees to win the Heisman Trophy, considering the dimensions and experience of this year's offensive line makeup, this is the best shot anyone, especially Brees, could hope for. Brees said, however, that it would be nice if the winner of college football’s highest individual award receives five mini-Heisman Trophies — one for each member of the offensive line.

Tiller and company have been in this offense for a long time, which requires a solid offensive line to be successful. Chaney, who has been at Tiller’s side since they were at the helm at the University of Wyoming said they have seen some good lines over the years — this one included.

"As far as what is the best offensive line I ever coached. I don’t know; I hope it’s this one," Chaney said.