Pre-camp U of L football preview: offensive line
With preseason camp set to start on Tuesday, college football is so close we can taste it.
So, with that in mind, we'll review each Louisville football position group over the next eight days. We started with special teams and the defense, and we've moved on to the offense. Once camp gets going, we'll be updating our U of L page like crazy, and the closer the season gets, we'll review each opponent on the schedule.
The goal with this series is to give a snapshot of each position group -- who's coming back and who's new, if there's a fight for a position and what kind of ability the position group has -- before preseason camp starts.
Today, we move on to the offensive line, a group that has a lot of experience but struggled at times last season.
Positions involved
left tackle, right tackle, right guard, left guard, center
Where the units ranked nationally last year
Scoring offense - 35.2 points per game (25th nationally)
Rushing offense - 146.8 yards per game (87th)
Passing offense - 314 yards per game (16th)
Total offense - 460.8 yards per game (28th)
Sacks allowed - 26 (65th)
Tackles for loss allowed - 72 (50th)
Who's returning
C/G Jake Smith, Sr.; LT Jamon Brown, Sr.; LG John Miller, Sr.; G Pedro Sibiea, Soph.; G Skylar Lacy, R-Fr.; C Tobijah Hughley, Jr.; C T.C. Klusman, Soph.; C Mike Romano, Jr.; G Chris Acosta, Sr.; RT Ryan Mack, Jr.; RT Aaron Epps, Jr.; T Joe Manley, Soph.
Who's new
T Kelby Johnson, Jr.; T Lukayus McNeil, Fr.; G Jimmie Terry, Fr.; T Danny Burns, Fr.
Any position battles?
There are likely two battles. One is at right tackle, where Aaron Epps spent the spring as the penciled-in starter, but last year's starter Ryan Mack is back from injury and stands as the assumed starter heading into the fall.
And then whichever position Jake Smith doesn't take will be up for grabs. He started all 13 games last fall at center but might slide over to guard. If he stays at center, the fight for the right guard spot will be between sometimes 2013 starter Chris Acosta, freshman Jimmie Terry and defensive lineman-turned-guard Pedro Sibiea.
If Smith moves to guard, the center spot will start out as walk-on Tobijah Hughley's, but a healthy T.C. Klusman, who appeared in all 13 games last season, could fight for it. Hughley ran with the first-team offense in the spring and did well.
What to expect
This is one of two groups on the offensive side of the ball with some questions. (Quarterback is the other.) There are five returning starters here, though one of those (Acosta) wasn't a regular starter. The Brown-Miller-Smith-Acosta-Mack combination started four games together last season, including the Russell Athletic Bowl.
Take away Acosta from the combination, and the other four started 12 of 13 games together. Every coach wants continuity at each position, so that's the plus, and Petrino highlighted Brown as his player of choice two weeks ago when he was asked who had the most impressive off-season.
But the offensive line struggled last season with those guys all playing. I arrived in Louisville for this job at the end of October and covered three total football games (thanks to a wedding and a basketball tournament costing me the UConn and Memphis games).
In the three games I saw, there was a ton of inconsistency.
Against Miami in the bowl game, Louisville converted 8 of 14 third downs and gave up just two tackles for loss, one sack and zero quarterback hurries. The Cards chocked up 554 total yards of offense or, in layman's terms, approx. a million yards. I only counted two offensive-line penalties.
That's p. good.
But the Houston and Cincinnati stats reflect something else. Against Houston, Louisville gave up 10 tackles for loss, four sacks and three quarterback hurries. Louisville converted 6 of 16 third downs and 332 total yards of offense. The O-line also committed three penalties.
In the regular-season finale, Cincinnati was all over U of L's O-line, which was bailed out by some Teddy Bridgewater highlight-reel plays. The Bearcats were in the backfield seemingly the whole game, with seven tackles for loss, three sacks and three quarterback hurries. Louisville's offensive linemen were responsible for two false starts, one face mask and one holding penalty.
That's p. rough.
Mixed results aside, any coach would be happy to have an offensive line with 116 career starts coming back. Smith is one of the team leaders. Brown and Miller are solid, and there's potential in some of the newcomers to become key guys in the future.
Among the newcomers, Petrino likes Sibiea's future on the offensive line, and McNeil and Terry were key parts of the 2014 signing class.
The lines looked good in the spring game, though, again, the coaching staff limited just how aggressive the defense could be in attacking the quarterback.
So the question is: Can this group find consistency? Louisville needs it in the trenches: The ACC possessed seven of the top 25 teams in the country in sacks and five of the top 25 tackles-for-loss teams.
And the offensive line is the backbone of any good offense.
Tomorrow's position preview: Tight ends/receivers