The first line of defense in college football is usually the line that is on offense. Opening holes for the running backs; getting a push on the other line, and certainly defending the quarterback are all the critical elements of an offensive line. Wake Forest head coach Dave Clawson has made clear a few priorities this Fall camp. Among them is to find a more explosive ground game, and to protect new starting quarterback Mitch Griffis. That means Wake Forest’s line has been drawn.
Wake Forest’s Line Has Been Drawn
In 2022, the storyline for the Demon Deacons’ offensive line was the huge number of games played by the linemen combined. That tends to be the case when the lineup is full of fifth- and sixth-year players, and even one in his seventh year. Je’Vionte’ Nash, Loic Ngassam Nya, and Sean Maginn had a lot of football miles on those bodies. They have moved on, but the void is not the same as it would be for other teams.
Because they were around for so many years, the guys coming up behind them have also put in a lot of calendar months waiting for their turn to start. While the number of combined starts may not be as noteworthy as it was last year, the years of experience are certainly something to recognize.
The “New” Group
Spencer Clapp is this year’s elder statesman. Factor in the 2020 Covid exemption, a regular redshirt year, and a medical redshirt, and he is entering his seventh year of college football. Clawson jokes that his lineman is getting ready to apply for his AARP card. Michael Jurgens, who is spending the off-season making the move from center to guard, is going into his sixth, and presumably final year in Winston-Salem.
De’Vonte Gordon is going into year five and started all 13 games last year at right tackle. Guard Nick Sharpe is going into year three with 11 games under his belt. Matt Gulbin also is going into year three and has appeared in 13 games. Luke Petitbon has 11 games of experience from 2021 but redshirted last year. The snaps are still there for the unit, if not the experience together.
Offensive line coach Nick Tabacca told us that the game experience is one thing. There is also the need to meld players together into a cohesive unit. “Luke Petitbon has played some football for us. Spencer Clapp has played a ton of football but unbelievably has never started a game for us. At right guard, we are really rotating Nick Sharpe and Matt Gulbin. I’m really excited about their future in the program as they work as a unit,” he said.
Mix and Match
Clawson said they are working with different combinations on the offensive line, trying to make sure they have depth as needed. Clapp was given a day off practice last week. Clawson said it was for his, “Hundred thousand mile oil change.” He said the design is so that, “Our twos [on the offensive line] have to block our ones [on the defensive line]. Guys get challenged. Guys get beat. Hopefully, they respond to it.”
Jurgens told us he likes the competition that is going on as guys try to fill the voids left by three guys from last year moving on. “You’ve got Matt and Nick competing for that right guard spot and I think it’s making both of them better,” he said.“ He pointed out that he, Ngassam Nya, and Maginn had started 33 games together. Now, there is movement both into the line and to other spots on the line.
That could be disruptive to a player who has had nothing but familiarity on either side of him for years. But Jurgens said the room is the room and the guys are the guys. “When you have the same o-line coach and the same head coach for 10 years, you recruit guys who fit a certain type of mold and a certain culture,” he told us. “It really makes it so that we can just bond so easily. And we’re not afraid to call each other out and not afraid to take criticism.”
Leading the Room
Tabacca puts some of the growth of the individuals into a unit on Jurgens’ shoulders, a guy who is in his third year as a team captain. “He’s always been a guy who has a growth mindset, and now he’s looking for ways to improve as a leader. He’s always been a great mentoring leader. He would take anybody with him and watch film with them,” he said. Jurgens does not shy away from the responsibility. “I think the definition of leadership is helping others get to be the most disciplined that they can be,” he said. “And knowing that whatever they need, I’m there for them.”
There are still those two stated priorities. There is protecting the new guy taking the snaps. And there is playing a role in trying to improve a run game that significantly underperformed last year.
Griffis is a different quarterback than his predecessor. There are many parts to his game that bear no resemblance to Sam Hartman, whom the line took care of for five years. Jurgens doesn’t see the adjustment period as anything significant. “Sam did a really good job of keeping Mitch and Michael [Kern] both in the loop in how he communicates on things. And they both have done an extraordinary job the past three years of being involved with us and understanding how we do things,” he said.
The Task at Hand
Tabacca said the job is the job regardless of who is behind his offensive line. “They [the linemen] just have to play within the scheme and do their job, and focus on the details of their techniques. If they get caught up in other stuff, it’s a distraction.”
And about that run game? Clawson said the running backs and the rushing attack have to have more explosive plays this season. He called it going from five to 50 [yards]. What can the offensive line do better? “The run game takes a lot of people working together,” Tabacca said. “For us, it’s finding second-level blocks. It’s finishing blocks, not letting guys fall off you. And there are certain run schemes we’ve got to get better at too.”
When posed with the same question, Jurgens showed his years in the program. And it is a program that is enveloped in a high degree of secrecy throughout the year. “I don’t know if the security clearance is there,” he joked when asked what his line is going to do to improve. True veterans speak the Wake Forest way.
Photo courtesy: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
