Offensive line continuity should be vital for Ohio's success

ATHENS — “It’s a good day when we don’t get mentioned at all.”
Kurt Danneker isn’t the first lineman to utter that line, and he for sure won’t be the last, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
Everybody who spends an ounce of attention to football understands that lineman, offensive more often, receive little-to-no credit outside of the locker room. The headlines and media attention, understandably most times, goes to the quarterback and whatever skill position players on either side of the ball made big, game-changing plays.
Ironically enough, the only time people usually talk about the offensive line is when someone does something bad. Nobody notices when they protect the quarterback, but they’re the first person the fingers get pointed at when the star player is lying on the ground, writhing in pain.
Danneker and the rest of the offensive line desperately hope that doesn’t happen to Kurtis Rourke or any of the major weapons on the team. The Ohio program is entering a season of expectations that has not been seen in a long time in Athens, for that reason, the graduate student is aware of the responsibility placed on the line. Rourke will hopefully help lead Ohio to expected success, but those on in the trenches are the ones that makes it possible.
“We know there’s a target on our backs this season, it’s no secret that the Bobcats are a team to beat this year. We understand that and our team motto has been ‘Raise the bar,’ so we try to do that every day,” Danneker noted. We know that if we just prepare the same way we did as last year, we might get the same result, but we don’t even want to risk that. We just want to raise the bar and keep getting better and hopefully have a better result as last year.”
Offensive line, especially at the D1 level, is not for the mentally weak. Then, it must be a good thing that Ohio returns nearly all of its key pieces from a historic 2022 campaign on the line. Nearly all.
The one notable missing piece from the season prior may be the most important however. Hagen Meservy is leaving the program after a first team All-MAC selection at guard in 2022. It’ll be difficult to replace his production, but the continuity on the line should be enough to fill some of those holes.
“I think the team as a whole has done that really well this offseason,” Danneker said in an interview with the Messenger when asked about how preparation has gone in the offseason. “Especially the young guys, it can be really overwhelming at times so they’ve done a good job at just picking one thing at a time to get better at.”
Aside from Danneker, Ohio returns Jay Amburgey at left tackle, Parker Titsworth at center and Shedrick Rhodes Jr. at right tackle. Every year is different, but Danneker is positive that the unit can continue the momentum built from the past season.
“I think it’s really great having four of the main starters come back from last season. Obviously losing Hagen is a big blow, but I think Christophe Atkinson has done a great job stepping into his role and bringing his physicality. I think that it’s a great example to the younger guys, the type of physicality we need to bring to the field and to our opponents.”
The returning pieces in front of the start quarterback should give Bobcats fans enough reason to breathe a sigh of relief. Results will obviously have to come on the field, but returning 80% of the offensive line on the top scoring team in the conference should give a bit more optimism to an already exciting season.