Brick Wall? Offensive line looks to improve with new QB

T.J. Clemmings knows what a difference one season makes.

The redshirt senior offensive lineman spent last year learning a new position after switching sides of the ball at the end of 2012. The move was prompted by a conversation with head coach Paul Chryst immediately following the team’s 27-3 win at University of South Florida in its final regular season game. 

“His uniform wasn’t dirty and he said, ‘Coach, I’ll do whatever I can for this team,’” Chryst said.

So, the process began. But the curve wasn’t quick. 

“Lots of stuff was new to me.  I was learning lots of things on the fly from week to week, trying to remember what I did last week or remember what coach told me and try to build on it every weekend and do the best I can,” Clemmings, now a right tackle, said of last season when speaking to media in July. 

Things might have been worse if someone hadn’t helped him by serving as a sort of on-field coach. Right guard Matt Rotheram, also a redshirt senior, was the person to his immediate left on the line. 

“Matt was like a play-by-play coach for me last year,” Clemmings said. “He helped me out a lot, getting through some of these games when there were times where I might have been a little lost out there, ‘Hey T.J., get that down, do that.’ He got me through.” 

While his fellow linemates’ adjustments haven’t been quite as extreme as the 6-foot-6 New Jersey native, who played just two years of high school football, they are noteworthy.

Last year was center Artie Rowell’s first full season of gameplay after playing in just two games two years ago and redshirting the year before that.

“We’re not gonna have guys real nervous [this season]. We’ve played snaps,” Rowell, a redshirt junior, said in July. 

Redshirt sophomore Adam Bisnowaty missed the last four games of last season and spring practice because of a back injury.

“I feel like I’m back in it now, it’s just the little details — making sure everything’s perfect,” Bisnowaty said during training camp.

Occupying the starting left guard spot is sophomore Dorian Johnson, who played in 12 games last season, starting two at left tackle and one at left guard. He was the first freshman to make a start on Pitt’s offensive line since 2006. He stands 6-foot-5 and weighed in at just under 310 pounds during training camp, according to offensive line coach Jim Hueber, “which is plenty big enough.”

Chryst noted the improvements he’s made in the time since the finish of his rookie season. 

“I think that there were times last year, or even in the spring, where he might be [over]thinking a little bit. I think there’s less of that. I see him coming out … [he’s] trying to finish things. He’s not playing hesitantly,” he said during camp.

Last year, redshirt senior left guard Corey King also battled injuries and only appeared in five games.

Depth won’t be an issue this year, though. There are 15 offensive linemen on roster. 

“We have probably seven [linemen] that we feel pretty good about,” Chryst said. “But we have some depth right now, which is good.”

The model of consistency for the line was, and is, Rotheram, a two-year starter who has played in 33 college games, starting 27 of them.

But he alone couldn’t prevent the struggles that the five-man front endured last season. It gave up 43 sacks, the most in the ACC, and 123rd of all 125 Division I teams. 

“We definitely don’t want to do that again,” he said.

To Rowell, the stat resonates in a particular way because, unlike the so-called “skill” positions, linemen don’t have a ton of individual numbers with which they can evaluate their performance.  

“We’re focused on that,” he said.

Furthermore, when that position group has issues, it keeps the entire offense from functioning properly. 

“The running back can’t run the ball if we don’t block. The quarterback can’t pass the ball if we don’t block,” Clemmings said.

With Chad Voytik,  first-year starting quarterback after Tom Savage graduated, under center  makes it especially crucial that the line meshes, though the redshirt sophomore took the first-team reps in camp. 

The issue of getting acclimated is one that doesn’t just pertain to offense. So when defensive coordinator Matt House spoke generally about the growth of a player after a season on the field, he could have easily been talking about the O-line. 

“Not only have you had a full year but you have had a full year to make game mistakes and relearn from those game mistakes,” House said. “You can slow it down in the film room and reinstall and watch them again before you go out for spring practice. The longer you are with the process, the less mistakes you are going to make.”

Head coach Paul Chryst singled out Clemmings after the second day of camp for his progress since the same point a year ago, saying it was evident after just one session.

Clemmings is one of the team’s three captains this year, along with Ray Vinopal and Nicholas Grigsby.  

“He’s had some growing pains, just like everyone else does, but he just kept working at it, and he is one of our better players right now,” Chryst said.

The person who is probably best-positioned to evaluate the big man’s improvement said as much before camp had even begun.   

“He’s right there with me now,” Rotheram said.  

The hope for Pitt is that the rest of line is, too. 

“In my experience over the years, when the same five guys are playing, they usually have a better union than what we did last year – trying to plug somebody new in every week or switch guys into another position,”  Hueber said.  “It just makes for continuity. Guys buy into where they are. They sit better. They know where they are. Common sense would tell you that it’s better.”