PARTY LINE: Deacons need linemen to play big

When rival college coaches talk to each other, the ears of their offensive linemen often start burning.

Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest said that the complaint he had throughout most of last season was one shared by pretty much every other coach he passes the time with. It's hard to find a coach, he said, who's not grumbling over the performance of his offensive line.

It's easy to see why. When linemen arrive at a program, the faster, quicker and more athletic among them are assigned to the defensive side. The rest are then expected to beat the best.

Consequently, a really good offensive line can be such a rare and powerful force in college football.

The Deacons had standout offensive lines in the early days of Grobe's time at Wake Forest, when they led the ACC in rushing in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005.

And for them to have a successful 2009 season and extend to four the streak of bowl appearances, they'll need one again. The defense is talented but largely untested. The kicking game is a work in progress.

Quarterback Riley Skinner is good, maybe the best to ever play at Wake Forest, but as was proven over last season's 8-5 campaign, he can't excel without help from his teammates up front.

"The offensive line has to prove that we're a solid, cohesive group," senior tackle Joe Birdsong said. "At any level, from Pee Wee to the NFL, you win or lose games up front.

"So it's important for us to know all our assignments, bring a good effort every day and make sure we're the reason we're winning football games and not losing them."

Grobe has said time and again that the fate of the season will rest on the performance of an offensive line that has something to prove. The Deacons finished a startling ninth in the ACC in rushing last season, with 121.4 yards a game, and their 30 sacks allowed were third most in the conference.

"That whole offensive line group, Birdsong, Griffin, all those guys, they know that they didn't play very well last year, that they were a big part of our lack of success offensively," Grobe said. "We don't keep that a secret.

"And we're not pointing out any individual. That whole offensive line group was soft and beat up last year. You know you're going to have your injuries in football, but I don't know if I've ever, from week to week, had as many little dings and knocks and things that kept guys out of playing time as we had last year. And that's supposed to be your group that sets the example for toughness.

"And so if that group will come around and mature a little bit -- and I think they have -- that in itself will make us better offensively."

The work was cut out for Steed Lobotzke, the Deacons' offensive coordinator and line coach, before last season even began when Chris DeGeare was ruled academically ineligible. De-Geare, who at 6-4, 335 pounds, was probably the team's best offensive linemen. He had played in 37 college games and started 23.

DeGeare buckled down in the class room and regained his eligibility, giving Lobotzke a far better start to this season. DeGeare, a guard in his first three seasons, has been moved to left tackle, the most vital spot in pass protection for a team with a right-handed quarterback.

Not only has DeGeare played a lot of football, he's played it with a lot of his offensive line teammates. DeGeare, Birdsong, guards Jeff Griffin and Barrett McMillin and center Trey Bailey are fifth-year seniors. Center Russ Nenon, last season's offensive lineman of the year on the team, is a fourth-year junior.

Griffin has started 29 games, Birdsong 20, McMillin 19, Nenon 13 and Bailey six. Joe Looney, a guard pressed into action last season as a freshman, started seven and another freshman, tackle Doug Weaver started two -- giving the line a grand total of 116 combined career starts.

Grobe said the experience shows on the practice field.

"I just like the attitude of this group. This is a better attitude this year than we had last year," Grobe said. "Last year I thought our guys were too cool for school. This year we've got a good work ethic and we've got a group of guys that know there's a lot of responsibility on them for us to be better on offense.

"Anytime you've got your offensive linemen wearing wrist bands and being cute and thinking they're wide receivers, you've got problems."

Lobotzke has gone throughout preseason with a line of DeGeare at left tackle, Looney at left guard, Nenon at center, Griffin at right guard and Birdsong at right tackle. He said the most pitched battle is between Looney and McMillin, who started 11 games last year and emerged from spring practices listed first-team before being supplanted by Looney in the early days of preseason.

Representing the future is Dennis Godfrey, an athletic 6-3, 335-pound sophomore tackle who has yet to make his mark at Wake Forest.

"Dennis Godfrey has a lot of tools, but he played tight end and (defensive) line," Lobotzke said. "So I'm trying to get him to be an offensive lineman.

"Once I can get Dennis to be an offensive lineman 24/7, I think he can be a really good offensive lineman of the future."

Lobotzke said he has been pleased this preseason with his line, which has had its way against the second and third team defenses in both scrimmages. Skinner, the man who should benefit most from a dominant line, said he has also noticed a new mindset up front.

"I don't think I've seen an offensive line since I've been here work as hard as they have, or has been pushed as hard by the coaches," Skinner said. "Coach Grobe let them know last year that they expected more out of them. And they took that to heart and took it upon themselves as a unit and just really busted it this whole offseason.

"We're real proud where they are now and hopefully they'll just get better from here."

■ Dan Collins can be reached at 727-7323 or at dcollins@wsjournal.com