Heading into Saturday’s Week 13 game, Rutgers’ offensive line has made great strides throughout the season. In 11 games this season, the Scarlet Knights are No. 11 in the nation for fewest sacks allowed (1.09) and fewest tackles-for-loss (3.91).
The turning point for the Scarlet Knights’ offensive line was in Week 7 against Michigan State, where Rutgers leaned on their offensive line to secure a game-winning touchdown. Rutgers’ O-line carried that performance into Week 8 against Indiana as the Scarlet Knights dominated the Hoosiers upfront. Rutgers recorded 276 yards on 55 attempts, averaging five yards per carry and scoring three touchdowns in a winning effort.
Considering where the offensive line was a year ago (hint: horrible), this has been a very solid season for the unit. This is a real credit to [autotag]Pat Flaherty[/autotag], the former NFL coach who is in his first season as the Rutgers offensive line coach.
When asked about the performance of his offensive line during his weekly press conference on Monday, Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano described the small strides his front five have taken and how the unit has solidified throughout the year.
“We try to make minimal-strength games. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. But it’s about technical technique and then understanding what defenses are doing,” Schiano said in his Monday press conference..
“The more you face different defenses, I think they build a library of things that they can then go back to, hey, this is like what Iowa did, or this is what Indiana did. I think that’s critical for O-lines. You know what kind of has solidified the five that have played together the back half of the year, you know, that helps a little bit, too. We have certain guys that will sub for now and again, but we are making progress.”
In 11 games this season, the Scarlet Knights’ offensive line has registered 1795 rushing yards on 427 attempts, averaging 4.2 yards per carry and scoring 19 rushing touchdowns. Also, Rutgers is averaging 163.2 rushing yards.
[lawrence-related id=32383,32369,32343]
Rutgers’ front five has definitely improved over a season ago and helped the offense be viable. Their development is a major reason why Rutgers is bowl-eligible and heads into the final game of the season with a chance to clinch a winning record this season.