New Depth Eastern Washington Offensive Line Comprised Of 12 Bulldozers

The image on the T-shirt stretched across Jim Buzzard’s chest depicts a massive offensive lineman preparing to streamroll a puny, petrified opponent. The question the T-shirt asks is simple and direct: “Are you part of the steamroller … or part of the pavement?”

The answer varies, depending on whether you happen to be one of Buzzard’s teammates on Eastern Washington’s dominant, destructive offensive line, or just another flattened opponent brushing broken pieces of asphalt off your backside.

“We’ve all got ‘em, all of us O-linemen,” Buzzard said of the shirt he proudly displayed following practice earlier this week. “It makes us feel like more of a unit.”

But there is more than solidarity fueling Eastern’s offensive front. There is also size, strength, savvy and unheard-of depth at each of the five interior line positions.

Not to mention four gifted tight ends - all underclassmen, who can run-block and pass protect as well as they catch passes.

In only his fifth season at Eastern, offensive line coach Paul Wulff has developed a considerable cast of 12 guards, centers and tackles he can use almost interchangeably.

“And I have full faith and complete confidence in all 12,” Wulff said.

What’s not to believe?

Behind Wulff’s “Bulldozin’ Dozen,” Eastern has stormed to a 6-1 start that has it perched atop the Big Sky Conference standings at 4-1 heading into Saturday afternoon’s 12:35 homecoming matchup against Idaho State.

The Eagles are averaging 504.1 yards of total offense, 221.7 yards of rushing offense and 34.9 points per game - all league highs. And they rank fourth in the Big Sky in passing with an average of 282.4 yards per game.

Running backs Rex Prescott and Mike MacKenzie stand 1-2 in rushing and quarterback Harry Leons, who is coming off a career-best 424-yard, four-touchdown effort in last Saturday’s 40-35 upset of then-No. 2 Montana, leads the Big Sky in passing efficiency with a rating of 176.74.

“And that all starts up front,” said Buzzard, a 6-foot-3, 260-pound tackle who is one of only two fifth-year seniors playing on the offensive line. “People always say that offensive linemen don’t get any notoriety, but we get notoriety.

“Harry got Big Sky player (of the week), that’s us. All those passing yards, that’s us. Rex and Mike being No. 1 and 2 in rushing, that’s our stat. That’s what we take pride in.”

Last weekend’s huge road win over Montana served as a testimonial to Buzzard’s belief that the O-line makes or breaks an offense. Leading 33-28 midway through the final period, and in need of a time-consuming scoring drive to put the Grizzlies away, the Eagles marched 76 yards on 13 consecutive running plays for the clinching touchdown.

“The people in the stands had to recognize us then - 13 plays of just poundin’ them play after play,” said senior center Kevin Peterson. “We just took it on our shoulders to get it done.”

Eastern’s dominance up front was enough to impress even Wulff, an admitted perfectionist.

“They went out and went to work,” Wulff recalled. “I can find fault with just about anything, so I know the drive wasn’t executed to a perfect T. But it was impressive, because every play had maximum effort.”

Effort, according to sophomore guard John Kane, is what earns you membership in the Eagles’ close-knit fraternity of offensive linemen.

“It was never a matter of acceptance from the older guys,” said the Lewis and Clark High School graduate, who latched onto his starting job during fall camp while junior Justen Wochnick was hobbled by off-season knee surgery. “It’s all about just earning your spot.

“If you work hard, follow the coach’s instructions and do your job right enough times, you earn your spot.”

Kane has been so effective that Wochnick has been unable to reclaim the starting job he held last season. But neither their competition, nor the battle at right guard where two-year starter T.J. Ackerman has finally unseated redshirt freshman Luke Fritz following a third off-season reconstructive knee surgery, has harmed the chemistry that is so important to an offensive line.

According to Buzzard, all 12 are still close friends, who hang out together off the field.

“We even have a big function at the end of the year called the O-line Blowout,” explained Buzzard, who was reluctant to go into detail about what goes on at the annual gathering. “We watch a blooper tape, kind of like the Sports Follies, of all the O-line’s screw-ups and have a good laugh over that.

“Other than that, ‘Blowout’ pretty much explains it. You’ll have to figure it out from there.”

An initial glance at Eastern’s roster can be deceiving, as far as the sizes of Wulff’s linemen are concerned. Ackerman, who is listed at 6-6, 285 pounds, is the biggest of the 12, but is still no behemoth by today’s college standards.

Kane, at 6-3, 265, is the next heaviest starter, and sophomore Lance Knaevelsrud, a two-year starter at left tackle, weighs a mere 255.

But Buzzard claims the Eagles’ lean, mean profile is by design - Wulff’s design.

“We’re not tremendously big like we’ve been in the past,” he explained. “But as a whole, we’re stronger and more athletic. We’re able to move better and position ourselves better, which compensates for the lack of bulk.”

Wulff said he likes his linemen big, but not fat. And he recruits accordingly.

“We don’t look big, because we don’t have a whole lot of fat guys,” Wulff said. “But we’re bigger than most people think because those weights in the program aren’t very accurate - which I don’t mind. We average around 295 or 300 among our three guys in the middle; and our tackles, for the most part, are fairly athletic.”

Wulff’s linemen are also nicely spaced out by class. Buzzard and Peterson are the only seniors. Five of the 12 are juniors, three are sophomores and two are redshirt freshmen.

Kane gives Wulff credit for maintaining class balance.

“As a group, Coach Wulff keeps us all working together,” Kane explained. “He doesn’t put all the old guys together and leave the young guys off to the side. He integrates them all so we’ll always have a good offensive line.”

“This year we’re going to lose two seniors,” added Buzzard, an All-Big Sky first-team selection last fall, “but you’re not going to be able to tell the difference when Pete and me are gone. They’re going to be good here for a long, long time.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: EWU’s BULLDOZIN’ DOZEN How EWU’s interior offensive line looks on the depth chart: LT Lance Knaevelsrud 6-4, 255 Soph. David Andres 6-7, 270 Jr. LG John Kane 6-3, 265 Soph. Aaron White 6-0, 255 Jr. Justin Wochnick 6-2, 280 Jr. C Kevin Peterson 6-1, 260 Sr. Aaron Best 6-0, 275 Soph. RG T.J. Ackerman 6-6, 285 Jr. Luke Fritz 6-4, 275 Fr. Jeremy Taylor 6-2, 280 Soph. RT Jim Buzzard 6-3, 260 Sr. Tim Gutmann 6-5, 255 Fr.