Buffs Camp Position Preview: O-Line Aims For Consistency
August 05, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic's style and philosophy fit perfectly with the fourth-quarter emphasis of Buffs head coach Mel Tucker.
While technique, timing and cohesiveness are no doubt integral parts of his overall approach to teaching the game, he makes sure the mental approach needed to play the position is stressed every day.
That means effort, attitude and playing with an edge — and doing it until it wears down a defense.
"The only way we're going to be great is if we can play hard every snap," Kapilovic said. "We have to try to break people's wills. That's really what the focus is there. Know your assignment, get in shape, cohesiveness and find some guys to get after it."
Kapilovic believes he has a solid foundation from which to build. The Buffs return three players who started at least nine games last season, and added a graduate transfer who started early in the year in 2018 for Oklahoma State.
But after that, the experience level drops dramatically, meaning depth will also be an issue.
Colorado struggled to find consistency up front last season. The Buffs gave up 34 sacks in 2018 (tied for 106th in the nation) and rushed for just 143 yards per game (99th in the nation), averaging less than 4 yards per carry.
Tucker, though, has faith in Kapilovic, whom he has called "one of the best offensive line coaches in the nation."
Tucker and his staff did his best to add some immediate strength and size in their first recruiting class, with the most notable addition being Oklahoma State transfer Arlington Hambright, who has already been running at the No. 1 spot at left tackle. Also among the newcomers are junior college transfer Va'atofu Sauvao (310 pounds) and true freshman Austin Johnson (300).
But the Buffs also added some size in the weight room in the offseason. Sophomore tackle William Sherman has put roughly 30 pounds on his 6-4 frame and is now a legitimate 310 pounds. Guard/center Tim Lynott, who has more career starts than anyone else on the roster (33), is now a solid 300 and sophomore guard/center Colby Pursell is well above 300 as well.
Hambright, Sherman, Lynott and Pursell are the early odds-on favorites for starting spots. Left guard, however, will be a battle, with junior Kary Kutsch and redshirt freshman Casey Roddick the early contenders.
Other returnees who could fit into the equation include redshirt freshman Kanan Ray, sophomore Frank Fillip and senior Jack Shutack, all of who are currently at tackle.
"We have to find what's the best fit for us," Kapilovic said. "But what we do know is there's some guys right now that have to play two positions to give us a chance."
The key, however, will be how quickly Kapilovic can mold the group into one cohesive unit. That's something he has been stressing since the day he arrived, and something that is a major point of emphasis in fall camp.
"We have a couple goals," Kapilovic said of the O-lines priorities in August. "Number one we have to find the five guys that will play together the best and hope that we have at least three backups that can fill in or share time with those guys. In a perfect world you have to have three guards and three tackles and at least two centers. That's the one thing, finding that combination that works the best.
"The next thing is, they came into camp knowing their plays, which is good. They worked hard this summer. Now it's about refining your technique, getting in football shape and understanding that you can play harder every snap. It can't be 'I go hard for one series, not the next. I go hard for one play, not the next.' They had a good summer of weights and conditioning. Now it has to show on the field."
WHO'S BACK: Seniors: Tim Lynott, Jack Shutack; Juniors: Kary Kutsch, Hunter Vaughn; Sophomores: William Sherman, Colby Pursell, Chance Lytle, Frank Fillip, Heston Paige; Redshirt freshmen Kanan Ray, John Deitchman, Josh Jynes, Casey Roddick.
WHO'S NEW: Graduate transfer Arlington Hambright; JC transfer Va'atofu Sauvao; True freshmen Jake Wiley, Austin Johnson, Valentin Senn, Nikko Pohahau, Dominick Cate, Spencer Short.
WHAT'S IN STORE: Tucker has made it clear he wants to make Colorado's run game more consistent and more productive — and it has to start up front. The Buffs are spending plenty of time on run block technique and strategy, and it's a huge emphasis every day in team and individual drills. Pass protection will be equally important, but whether this line can improve opening up consistent holes for the run game will be the key.
STATS TO REMEMBER: Last season, CU rushed for a net 1,716 yards on 452 carries, an average of 3.8 yards per carry. But 658 of those yards — more than 38 percent of the total — came on just 16 carries. That means CU rushed for 1,058 yards on the remaining 436 carries, a paltry 2.4 yards per carry.
That's a big reason the Buffs found themselves in so many third-and-long situations. CU was in third-and-5 or longer 134 times and successfully converted just 37 of those tries (27.6 percent). That includes 59 third-down tries of 10 yards or longer with just 11 conversions. The Buffs have to be able to run the ball more consistently on first and second down to avoid those nearly-impossible third-and-long situations.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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