Heading into the 2009 season, offensive line was among our biggest concerns on the team. Our line had been atrocious in 2008, and we knew we'd have to depend on some true freshmen to contribute as either backups or starters in 2009. Our line struggled early in the season, especially in losses to Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State. After changing up the interior line before we headed to Lubbock, everything clicked, our interior line solidified, and with it, our running game began to take off. Against Tech, we rushed for 321 yards, and began a nice string of success on the ground, as we added 267 yards rushing against Iowa State, 132 against Colorado, 375 against Baylor, and 190 against texas (and what was supposed to be the #1 rushing defense in the nation). Our only poor effort was against Oklahoma (59 yards rushing), where we struggled with their defensive front, including All-American DT Gerald McCoy.  The move of true freshman Patrick Lewis to LG and sophomore Evan Eike to RG made all the difference.

Entering the 2010 season, we return Lewis and Eike as starter, and Matt Allen and Brian Thomas as key backups on the interior line. We lose both offensive tackles, and our starting center, Kevin Matthews, off our line. Matthews' backup, Joe Villavisencio, returns, and I expect Danny Baker and Villavisencio to battle it out to be the starting center. Baker started two games at LT during the season, and also saw some action at RT. After we moved Michael Shumard back to the LT position, Baker was the backup RT and third-string LT. I expect Stephen Barerra and redshirt freshman Rhontae Scales to get a hard look at the LT position. I think we'll try to move Baker inside to center, because Sherman likes his football intelligence and his skillset. I don't think Baker has the feet to be a good LT, though.

The rule of thumb on offensive line is that if you face even-front teams, you want to be strong at the guard positions, and if you face odd-front teams, you need to be strong at the tackle positions. In the Big 12 South, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, texas, and Baylor are all even-front teams. Texas Tech is moving to an odd-front defense, but it is also the same defense we'll be facing every day in practice, so that isn't a concern. Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska are also all even-front teams. Basically, eleven of the twelve teams we'll face int he regular season will all be running a defensive scheme that plays into our offensive line strength, which is the offensive guard position. We're strong at the guard position, so we should be able to control opposing defensive tackles and get our interior run game going.

We need to make some position changes at the tackle positions, but changes on depth chart are a constant in college football. Because of the players we return at the guard positions, and because of the experience and talent we have coming back at the other positions, offensive line isn't a concern heading into the 2010 season.