Aggies work to speed up offensive line development
COLLEGE STATION — Grabbing hold of a foe’s jersey is a no-no in Kenyon Green’s line of work.
Grabbing hold of his amplified duties as a team leader is vital if Texas A&M intends to compete for its first SEC title — and at this point, the former Atascocita star has no intention of letting go.
“I’ve got to make sure our practice reps are like our game reps every day,” said Green, the Aggies’ All-America junior offensive lineman. “As a leader, I’m going to have to install that and push that more.”
Seventh-ranked A&M’s biggest issue through three games is on the offensive line. There’s not a close second for a program with national-title aspirations.
A&M (3-0) faces No. 16 Arkansas (3-0) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, and Aggies coach Jimbo Fisher adopted a more upbeat approach Monday than he had Saturday regarding the task at hand for his to-date dubious line.
“It’s just technique things, little things,” Fisher said of A&M’s myriad troubles on the line in a 34-0 victory over New Mexico this past Saturday at Kyle Field.
Following the Aggies’ shutout, an incensed Fisher said he needed his linemen to be “nasty,” especially with league play at hand following wins over Kent State (41-10), Colorado (10-7) and New Mexico.
The line should at least get a little nastier Saturday in the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Fisher said starting sophomore right guard Layden Robinson is expected to return from a leg injury after missing the New Mexico game.
That means Green, who slid inside and took over for Robinson against the Lobos, likely will move back to right tackle against the Razorbacks. Sophomore Blake Trainor started on the outside in place of Green, who played guard the previous two seasons. Trainor had a rough go against the stunts and blitzes of the Lobos, particularly playmaking defensive end Joey Noble, a fifth-year senior.
Former A&M coach R.C. Slocum routinely claimed there’s not a unit that benefits more from redshirting and seasoning than the offensive line because of the brutish nature of blocking combined with the intricacies of blocking schemes. Fisher concurred.
“It’s just small, minuscule adjustments,” said Fisher, agreeing that weathered veterans are a pleasure to coach on the line — at least in comparison to teeth-cutting newcomers. “That cohesiveness, we’ve just got to find and grind to.”
A&M was blessed with four seasoned, foul-mooded seniors on last year’s line. The unit was a strength en route to a 9-1 record and a No. 4 final ranking. Fisher realizes that’s a rarity in this age, however, which is why he tries speeding up the maturation during a season.
“We go ‘good on good’ during the week,” Fisher said of firstteam players on each side of the ball bumping helmets during practice. “We’ve got that two or three days a week where they’re blocking (starters), not just blocking scout team guys. We work on fundamentals to death. We pound them on the fundamentals as part of it.
“I truly believe that allows us to get better. Because you’re having to block really good people during the week and not only on the weekends. That keeps (you up) on the speed of the game, (provides) tenacity, and also can give you confidence when you start blocking those guys.”
A&M owns one of the nation’s top defensive lines, so the handson training has been top-notch for the green offensive line. The Aggies have allowed 5.7 points per game over their first three games and against New Mexico pitched their first shutout in five years and the first of the four-season Fisher era.
As for that offensive line, Bryce Foster is a true freshman at center, Aki Ogunbiyi is a redshirt freshman at left guard, tackle Jahmir Johnson is a senior transfer from Tennessee who’s still grasping Fisher’s complex scheme, and valued backup tackle Reuben Fatheree is a true freshman.
Based on an oft-disjointed line against New Mexico, the Aggies had trouble establishing a running game until the second half. Quarterback Zach Calzada was harassed more than he should have been by a Mountain West Conference defense, which collected three sacks.
A veteran Arkansas defense, led by senior linebacker Bumper Pool and sophomore safety Jalen Catalon, both Texans angling to show out in their home state, ranks fourth in the SEC in total defense in allowing 263 yards per game.
“We’ve got to get better,” said the Aggies’ Green, a three-year starter who’s had his share of troubles over the first few weeks in starting at two positions. “We’ve got to get more physical and pay more attention to detail. Hat placement, hands inside, driving our feet, doing the stuff we practice every day — we need to take that to game day.”