The offensive line was already going to be one of the most inexperienced units for the Montana Grizzlies this fall.
After losing four starters from 2017, the line returned just Angel Villanueva, with a whole bunch of uncertainty surrounding him.
So far in the fall, that uncertainty has gotten a lot more pronounced. Villanueva has been injured, and Thayne Jackson, one of the few linemen with game experience, announced his retirement from football on Monday.
“We’ve got a lot of young guys … so it’s just them getting their playbooks, learning their plays,” said Dallas Hart, a redshirt junior and one of the veterans by default on the O-line. “I feel like us, as older guys, we’ve been trying to help the younger guys get in, so if one of us does go down, they’re right there to back us up and be ready to go.”
Other than Villanueva, only Hart, junior Cody Meyer and sophomores Dylan Eickmeyer, Brandon Scott and Conlan Beaver have played in games for the Griz, and none have started. To make matters worse, several in that quintet are dealing with injuries as well.
Beyond those five, the only options for the Griz are redshirt freshmen like Colton Keintz and Skyler Martin, converts from the defense like Esai Longoria, or true freshmen like Cole Sain, Cody Hartsoch, Tyler Ganoung or Cody Kanouse.
Montana has tried desperately to beef up the position, welcoming back Payton Stoner, a redshirt freshman tackle who left the team in the spring, and switching defensive tackle Cy Sirmon to offense in a move that was announced Thursday. Sirmon, a 6-foot-3, 250-pound fourth-year junior from Wenatchee, Washington, has no played linebacker, defensive end, defensive tackle and offensive line at UM.
Faced with that pressure and turmoil, the players on the O-line, as well as position coach Chad Germer, have tried to just keep their heads down and, as every player on team will bring up when asked, improve everyday.
“We’re going into this with guys who have a little less experience than others, but I like that we’ve all embraced the grind,” Keintz said. “We’ve all done our best to get better. I think all the guys on the offensive line, be they the veterans or the rookies, all want to get better, and it shows.”
Germer sounded optimistic and upbeat when asked about the steps his players have taken early in the fall.
“I like the way the young guys have progressed,” Germer said. “We’ve got a large number of vets that continue to get better, and I’m really happy with the way they’re all progressing.”
Germer also said that the biggest hedge against injuries and departures is building up the depth of a unit, and that’s what he always tries to do with his offensive linemen.
“As a football coach, there’s always a chance of people getting hurt for various reasons,” Germer said. ” So you’ve always got to prepare, not just starters, but depth, and that’s always part of it. So nothing ever changes, that’s a yearly, daily battle. … You just prepare every one of them the same, whether they’re a third-year vet or a rookie.”
The thinness of the unit has, and will continue to, push players into roles that they might not have been suited for before the season, but so far, the linemen have embraced the challenge.
Take Hart, for example, whose roster bio on GoGriz.com still reads, “expected to compete for a starting position.”
That might have been true before the season, but now, he’ll be expected to not only start, but also be one of the leaders of the line.
“I kind of just took the bull by the horns and kind of ran with it,” Hart said of his increased role. “Really, it’s just knowing what I’ve got to do, I get the calls down, so that everyone else goes from there, so that I can help everyone else.”
HELPING THE OFFENSIVE LINE: Sirmon’s switch to the offensive line was reported in Montana’s daily practice roundup Thursday. The redshirt junior played in 21 games on the defensive line over the past two years at Montana, recording 23 total tackles and a half-sack. He’ll also change numbers, going from No. 40 to No. 66.
