Offensive line believes it has improved after summer work

For a Miami Hurricanes football team with high expectations, their offensive line is one of the biggest remaining question marks.

The unit is replacing two starters from last season’s 10-3 team, and even in the spring game, the group of Tyree St. Louis, Jahair Jones, Tyler Gauthier, Hayden Mahoney and Navaughn Donaldson struggled to hold Miami’s second-team defense at bay.

Now in early August, the linemen recognize there is still progress to be made but believe they have taken a collective step in the right direction.

“We’re making progress,” Jones said after practice Thursday, “but, you know … we’ve gotta stay consistent and keep working, because we’ve got a big task ahead of us and we’re just getting ready.

“We just need to be, at the end, more mentally focused. We do a lot of things together, so we have a really tight bond. So really, when we mess up or something, it’s like, let’s get focused and help one another out.”

The Hurricanes will get a sense of just how far the offensive line has progressed over the summer on Saturday, when they head to Hard Rock Stadium for the first scrimmage of the fall.

Just like the spring game, the first-team offense will face off with the second-team defense. Back then, coach Mark Richt said the goal was to find the five offensive linemen who would be starting and “work them all this summer and in fall camp.”

Turns out the same starting five in the spring are still the starters. Today, St. Louis, Jones, Gauthier, Mahoney and Donaldson will have a chance to prove they’re a winning combination.

“I’m just hoping to build unison,” Mahoney said. “First, second, third team, everybody. Just create three solid lines and just create good teamwork — everybody’s battling, everybody’s competing. [Offensive line coach Sandy] Searels preaches that, just everybody compete every day, and especially Saturday that’s what’s gonna be big for us.”

Another facet of the line’s improvement is its depth. The addition of guard Venzell Boulware, a transfer from Tennessee, should help.

Searels, in an effort to help with the depth, has been shuffling around the linemen on the secondand third-team offenses. That way, they are all capable of playing more than one position, giving Miami more options in the case of an injury.

With that, players guys such as Boulware and freshman DJ Scaife Jr. have been mentioned as potential “sixth men” for the line.

“I’m looking forward to them just coming out and playing,” Mahoney said about the younger linemen. “It’s a little hard because of the playbook. Some guys are hesitant, but they’re getting better at it, and I’m hoping [today] they can get it down and just play. I’ve been telling them all the time, just don’t think. Just hit somebody and just play ball, you know?”