All of you Bengal fans who saw Idaho State’s starting center and left tackle go down to injury early this season and then predicted success, raise your hands.
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
When Alex Ramirez, the emotional leader of the offensive line room, and Jorgen Miller, who earned the critical starting left tackle spot as just a sophomore, were both lost to season-ending surgeries early in the season, you really couldn’t blame long-suffering Bengal fans from muttering, “Here we go again.”
But a funny thing happened after those two stalwarts were sidelined: the Bengals went two straight games without giving up a quarterback sack, and just one sack over a three-game period, climaxing with ISU’s 41-38 win at Cal Poly Saturday night.
Despite shuffling starting linemen to new positions and inserting less experienced players into the starting lineup, ISU has yielded just five sacks all season, which is the 12th fewest allowed in the entire nation.
And according to Bengal head coach Cody Hawkins, three of those sacks were the result of breakdowns at other positions.
“So for those guys (the offensive line), you’re looking at two (sacks) on how many pass attempts over how many games? That is pretty incredible,” said Hawkins.
To answer Hawkins’ question, ISU has dropped back to pass 257 times this season, and yielded just those five sacks — giving up a sack only 1.9% of their drop backs. Last year, the Bengals gave up 31 sacks on 574 drop backs — one every 5.4% of the time.
“I think the key to that is just playing with great fundamentals, and all the work and practice we put into it every day,” said Jake Hellmann, a 6-foot-5-inch, 302-pound junior transfer from Utah State, who has lined up at both guard and tackle this year. “It helps to stack days on days, and gets us right and ready for games.”
For Hellmann and his mates, the fundamentals begin with a simple mantra: “Butt down, feet apart, hands inside eyes.”
“It just keeps us in good position when we’re trying to block and stay in front of our man,” said Hellmann, “especially when we’re trying to pass off those games (that defensive linemen often play while pass rushing).”
Those fundamentals are stressed by John Hughes, who replaced veteran Mark Weber when Weber retired as ISU’s offensive line coach after last season. Hughes came from Utah Tech, where he was the offensive line coach and co-offensive coordinator.
“I think it starts with Coach Hughes,” Hawkins said of the success of his offensive line. “I think he does a great job of setting the culture in that room. He cares about the guys, he cares about the details, he’s relatable, but he holds the guys accountable. I think he’s a great blend of, if you’re looking at the modern-day coach, what you want them to be, John Hughes is it.”
Hughes deflects the credit to his players and, not surprisingly, to Hawkins’ offensive scheme and the adjustments they’ve made since losing their two starting offensive linemen.
“As far as bright spots — I think having guys that are able to step up and take ownership of roles they might not have thought they were going to be playing,” said Hughes of linemen who’ve have to adjust to new positions. “Jake Hellmann, we brought him in as a tackle — he’s played tackle, he’s played guard, he’s started multiple games at different spots. Same thing with Stryker Rashid — we brought him in as a guard, now he’s playing center. Guys have moved around a ton, so just having them step up and building that cohesion. ... that has really been fun to watch.”
Hughes is also quick to credit Bengal quarterback Kobe Tracy, who followed Hughes to Pocatello from Utah Tech, for getting the ball out quickly and avoiding sacks on those times when the offensive line is not perfect.
“Sometimes you’ve gotta win one-on-one,” said Hughes. “We’ve been consistent there, but the times we haven’t, we’ve been very fortunate that Kobe Tracy has gotten rid of the ball. I attribute that to scheme and to coach Hawkins being able to put a plan together to get the ball out quickly.”
The current starting offensive line for Idaho State looks like this: Will Davis, 6-3, 314 sophomore from Portland, tackle; Hellmann, Pleasant View, Utah, guard; Rashid, 6-5, 291 sophomore, Weber, Utah, center; Jaedon Garcia, 6-3, 309, sophomore, Kapolei, Hawaii, guard; and Ty Hyde, 6-7, 291 senior, Preston, tackle.
Garcia has been battling an ankle injury and after it became clear he was struggling against Cal Poly on Saturday, Hughes subbed in Messiah Moya, a 5-foot-9, 274-pound fire plug known affectionately to his teammates as “Cheese.”
“He’s a little bit undersized, but he’s an explosive, powerful dude,” Hawkins said of the senior from San Mateo, California. “If you look at his numbers in the weight room, he’s as strong as anybody we have. ... He graded out the highest, hats off to him, he had the best game of anybody upfront.”
Last season, Hawkins frequently bemoaned the lack of depth in the offensive line room. Even though both he and Hughes would dearly love to have the services of both Ramirez and Miller, they are pleased with the way the newfound depth at that position has manifested itself.
“I think when I showed up, we’d already put a lot of that depth together,” said Hughes. “And then I think a lot of the depth too is just guys continuing to get better in the program. I think without a doubt we’ve got the best strength and conditioning coach in the country (Jeff Pitman). I think that showed up later on in the second half of that game last week. We started kind of showing our ability to be more physical than other teams later in games.”
Last recruiting season, Idaho State brought in three Division 1 transfers — Rashid and Hyde from Utah Tech, and Hellmann from Utah State − who are starting now on the offensive line. They also added six true freshmen, all of whom are redshirting this year. In addition, two high school linemen have already announced their commitment to ISU on social media this fall. To Hughes, it’s not surprising that ISU has been able to attract young linemen to a program that has, quite frankly, struggled to put together an affective o-line in recent years.
“We’ve got an incredible culture,” said Hughes. “I know that’s really cliché and a lot of teams talk about that, but ours is real and it’s special and the guys are believing in it.”
Hellmann would certainly testify to that. It’s one of the reasons why he transferred over from Utah State.
“The coaches and the camaraderie. ... Outside of football, we try to hang out so we’re definitely a tight-knit group,” Hellmann said. “When one guy goes down, the next guy is ready to step up.”
“I would say they’re great kids, they play hard and any success they’re finding is completely on them,” Hughes added. “They’re working their butts offs and they’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do, and I’m just proud to be a part of it.”
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