Magnus

September 21st, 2009 at 11:18 AM ^

If Moosman can play, I'm not too concerned. He's a veteran and he's solid. But if Moosman remains out and Khoury has to step in, I'm a bit worried about the interior. I think Ferrara is a solid offensive lineman and he works hard (I liked that he was downfield on Brown's 30-yarder) but having two backups on the interior line is a bit scary.

Seth

September 21st, 2009 at 12:31 PM ^

Let's wait and see how he UFRs out. Just from memory, I thought I saw Ferrara missing a lot of downfield blocks (but definitely making some others).

Center in this offense is a really tough job, and takes some fleet feet for an O-lineman. We may be better off, if Moose can go, starting with Khoury in the middle and Moosman back at guard. If we get ahead early, Ferrara can come back in for Moose (and nobody has to get changed up too much).

This is going to be long term, but Indiana is a pretty good opportunity for a new guy to get some reps without too much damage occurring. I think we're better off if Khoury can step in for the meat of the season, and Ferrara is saved for guard depth.

Koyote

September 21st, 2009 at 11:23 AM ^

Well that sucks! As others have already mentioned, Mooseman should be able to fill in for awhile and there shouldn't be a huge drop.

Hopefully, he makes it back in time for Penn State (5 games from now). Wishing you a speedy recovery Mr. Molk!

MLAWyer

September 21st, 2009 at 11:27 AM ^

I'm surprised there is no mention of Barnum filling in anywhere. I know he's had injury problems, but I also heard positive things about him when he's on the field.

Magnus

September 21st, 2009 at 11:38 AM ^

Barnum probably just isn't ready. He's only a redshirt freshman, and he's missed some time due to injuries. Meanwhile, Ferrara (who plays at guard) and Dorrestein (who came in at tackle when Huyge moved to RG) are redshirt juniors.

The offensive line is largely an experience-oriented position.

saveferris

September 21st, 2009 at 12:01 PM ^

Losing Molk for a few weeks is a bad thing, but if we're going to take a tough injury, the O-Line is the area we can best absorb it. Let's hope the injury bug stays away from those areas of the team where there is no depth. Keep off you feet David and feel better.

Magnus

September 21st, 2009 at 12:34 PM ^

a) We could have three positions out of place - Moosman at C, Huyge at G, Dorrestein at T

b) We could have two positions out of place - Moosman at C, Ferrara at G

c) Or we could have one position out of place - Khoury at C

Brewers Yost

September 21st, 2009 at 1:05 PM ^

The center in most offenses is like the QB of the offensive line. For example he has responsibility for adjusting blocking assignments based on what look the defense is giving. As far as techniques are concerned most of them are the same but are made more difficult because you have to snap the ball on top of executing the block properly. Importantly, we have not had many bad snaps with Molk in the game. I am definately concerned with him out.

A_Maize_Zing

September 21st, 2009 at 1:45 PM ^

I've run this offense on the high school level and have seen just about every piece of film from WVU/UofM over the course of the last 3 years. All of the pieces of a zone offensive line are interchangable. The offense is based on Scoop and Slip blocks and if you can do both of those things you can be successful at every position. With center I would just take the guy who is my most consistent snapper and go with it. If Moosemen is the most consistent with his shotgun snap and I'm sure he can read better then Khoury at this point then he is your man. I wouldn't worry much about other guys being out of position there is so little difference between them that you should not see a huge drop off in the run game.

I would be mildly concerned about our Tackles in the passing game and wouldn't want to see a lot of shuffling there but that would be my only concern at this point.

Magnus

September 21st, 2009 at 1:06 PM ^

The center's responsibility prior to the snap is identifying the defensive fronts and calling out protections and blocking schemes. The other offensive linemen can help with this, but since he's in the middle of the defense, it's easier for him to communicate to both sides of the line. That's why I like more experienced guys to play center.

Aside from that, on regular zone running plays, the center in this offense has to be quick enough to reach block a guy in the playside A gap. Whereas many offenses have their center either block back to the weakside or shoot up to linebacker, the zone scheme asks that center to reach block a nose tackle/defensive tackle.

This is a difficult task because it requires the center to be quick enough and strong enough to snap the ball and immediately block a guy who has the ball right in front of him and is presumably getting off the ball quickly because of it. But it's necessary for the center to reach that playside DT and form a co-op block with the playside guard; the guard will then release the DT to the C and get up to the second level. If the playside DT is outside the guard, the C will shoot up to the second level and pick off a scraping LB.

A_Maize_Zing

September 21st, 2009 at 1:47 PM ^

As the Center in this offense you should be stepping a split second before you snap as well to give yourself a small advantage. It can be dicey because you have to aim at your back leg as you snap and step or the ball will sail to back side and throw off timing.

As your body is turning during your stretch step the only part that remains square is your back leg and thats why you aim there if anyone is wondering.