Northwestern University Athletics
Cover Story From Sept. 4 Game Program
10/14/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 14, 1999
BY SCOTT KITEI
In most situations, sustaining a task for four seconds isn't too difficult.
Holding one's breath, pretty simple.
Standing on one foot, not too bad.
Ensuring that a 300-pound defensive lineman is nowhere near your quarterback ? a whole lot tougher.
Brian Hemmerle, Mark Perry, Wayne Lucier, Mike Souza, Lance Clelland, Jack Harnedy, Adam Fay and Leon Brockmeier are men who constantly face that challenge and look forward to it. While the reward for finishing many tasks is being able to relax and take a break, those guys have to keep going until the quarterback releases the ball or the referee blows the whistle.
This group will be the heart and soul of the Wildcat offense this season. They make up Northwestern's offensive line and strong performances from them are essential if the Wildcat "skill players" want to make headlines this season.
Unlike most players, offensive linemen have no individual statistics or long, gaudy bios in media guides, and they are often overlooked when things are going well. If that isn't bad enough, the big fellas are subjected to a lot of criticism when things are going poorly.
"When we're doing our job," says Mike Souza, a 6-6 junior from Kaneohe, Hawaii, "They notice the quarterback, wide receivers and running backs. It's just one of those things. People usually don't hear anything about the offensive line."
On the other hand, when the quarterback is sacked or a running back is tackled in the backfield, the offensive line often takes a lot of heat. However, rather than allow getting beat discourage him, Souza uses the misfortune to his advantage.
"It motivates me," he says. "I take it personally when the running back or quarterback gets hit in the backfield."
Offensive line coach Aaron Kromer played the position for four years in college at Miami (Ohio), and he's familiar with the line not getting much recognition.
"That's an age-old problem ? it's always been that way," he says. "They are a group that wants no glory. They want to feel that no one cares about them. They're guys who want to do their job for the betterment of the team."
This year's offensive line learned the hard way last season from the battle-tested defensive linemen of the Big Ten. But there will be no wide eyes or cold sweats in the Wildcat huddle this season. Every starter has had significant game experience and knows what to expect coming into this season.
Coach Kromer knows it's not easy for freshmen and sophomores, but he says that the key to success is confidence. "Of course we want to have experience with guys playing together, but everyone always starts with guys who haven't. It is something that definitely is a concern, and it's important how we handle the first couple of games and put the concern aside and just go play. They just need confidence early."
Perry, a 6-4 senior from Cecila, Kentucky, has struggled with back problems for the past two seasons and now finds himself as the team's starting center after beginning his NU career at guard. Although he has spent some time practicing the center position in past seasons, he says it's an adjustment moving to the position full time.
"Moving from guard to center gives me less reaction time," said Perry. "I need to be quick and explosive off the ball."
With NU's new coaching staff comes a new strategy and a new aggressive attitude that already has paid off in practice with a more productive ground attack. In the team's spring game, the running backs averaged more than four yards a carry, a sign of things to come.
"The running game has been vastly simplified," said Souza. "We're now moving the line of scrimmage forward better."
According to coach Kromer, the 'Cats are going to run the ball often, and the coaching staff is working on ways to make sure the ground attack is successful.
"We are working at getting our line to come off the ball and getting our running backs moving north to south," said Kromer. "We want to average five yards per carry."
"You're going to see a lot more yards per carry," said senior Mark Perry. "The backs will be better at seeing the holes with a year under their belt, and it gives us a feeling of security if the guy has been in the fray before."
Teamwork amongst the offensive linemen is extremely important. With a number of blocking schemes requiring double-teams, it's important for the players to work together.
"If one person messes up, it will cost us," said fifth-year senior Brian Hemmerle. "We feed off of each other."
For an offensive lineman, game day preparation begins early in the week, as they watch films of their opponents and study blocking sheets made up by the coaches. At the end of the week, the players receive the same blocking sheets, this time blank, and they have to fill in each of the schemes.
Come game time, there is little guesswork when it comes to reading the defensive fronts and knowing what blocking schemes to use in the game. However, it's not quite that simple.
"That defense won't run every front that we've worked on," explains coach Kromer. "We just have to gauge what you run, look at what we run, and decide what we think the defense will run to stop that."
"We can't afford to think too much," says Perry. "It's a reaction game. We know what the guy in front of us is gonna do."
Mike Souza has a simple solution for dealing with defensive schemes that he hasn't seen before.
"Try to get in somebody's way and find somebody to hit," he says.
During the game, a mark of a solid offensive line is the ability to wear down and frustrate the defense by keeping them in check.
"They gain confidence by dominating their defender," says coach Kromer." Our goal is to put doubt in the defender's mind for the entire game. When he's doubting himself, then we have a chance to be successful."
Although offensive linemen may not have the most glamorous roles on a football team, the players understand their roles and they take pride in doing their job.
Says coach Kromer, "They are the most humble group of guys on the football team. Everything is just about pride and how you feel about yourself, because no one is paying any attention to you until you do poorly."
As Mike Souza puts it, "We're just big, nasty, 300-pounders doing our thing."
