Established in 2015, the Joe Moore Award celebrates the most underappreciated unit in football: the offensive line. Ask any older college football fan and they’ll tell you that championships are won and lost in the trenches. While there are some awards like the Rimington Trophy, Lombardi Trophy, and Outland Trophy that celebrate singular players, the Joe Moore Award is the only one that highlights an entire unit.
In its short nine-year history, three awards went to Big Ten programs (Iowa in 2016 and Michigan in both 2021 and 2022). Last year’s award went to Washington.
The Big Ten leads the way with four selections. Joining them are three from the SEC (Alabama, Tennessee, Texas), one Independent (Notre Dame), and two from the American Athletic Conference (Army, Tulane). The three finalists will be announced on December 3. The winner of the award will be surprised on campus late in December and not in a formal ceremony like the rest of the awards.
Four Big Ten Offensive Lines Named Joe Moore Award Semifinalists
Indiana
There have been few programs as surprising as the Indiana Hoosiers have been this year. The unit is led by Bob Bostad, an offensive line coach with 26 years of coaching experience. When Curt Cignetti came over from James Madison, Bostad was the lone assistant coach retained from the Tom Allen regime.
The Hoosiers have allowed pressures in just 22.5 percent of dropbacks this year, good for seventh-best in football. In five games, the unit posted a clean sheet of no sacks allowed. Indiana’s sack rate is a paltry 3.8%, good for fifth-best in the Big Ten. Thanks to the offensive line’s protection, the Hoosiers offense is second in scoring offense.
In the run game, Indiana has scored multiple times on the ground in nine games.
Iowa
Led by George Barnett in his fourth year with the Hawkeyes, Iowa’s offensive line continues to be one of the best in the conference. While the Iowa offense has been the butt of many jokes, the rushing attack behind this offensive line is anything but a joke.
Thanks to the Iowa offensive line, Kaleb Johnson enters Week 11 as the nation’s second-leading rusher with 132.8 yards per game and has already set the program record with 21 touchdowns. In seven games, Iowa amassed more than 200 yards on the ground and has run the ball 140 times against loaded boxes. Against those loaded boxes, Iowa has averaged four-and-a-half yards per carry, good for 14th in the FBS.
If the offense continues on its current trajectory, it will set a new program record in rushing yards.
In the passing game, Iowa has only allowed 13 sacks in 10 games. Cumulatively, the Hawkeye offensive line has 174 career starts.
Ohio State
Justin Frye has been the subject of plenty of ire from Ohio State fans. He had an uphill battle from the cabinet being left bare by the previous coach to the program’s inability/unwillingness to sign top-end offensive line talent. And yet, Ohio State has one of the top offensive lines in the country.
Perhaps the thing most indicative of the unit’s success has been in the run game. 53.2 percent of the Buckeyes’ rush yards have come before contact, translating to 2.9 yards per run before contact. Only 19% of the rushing attempts were met with contact at or before the line of scrimmage. Ohio State is ninth in the country with 32 tackles for loss allowed and eight in tackles for loss per game.
In the passing game, Will Howard has been pressured on just 22 percent of passes (fourth-best). Additionally, Ohio State only allows 1.22 sacks per game. In six of the team’s nine games, the unit allowed one or fewer sacks.
That’s all with weakness-turned-potential first-round pick Josh Simmons and his backup Zen Michalski going down with injuries.
Oregon
The least experienced of the Big Ten offensive line coaches featured by the Joe Moore Award, A’lique Terry has coached his unit to be one of the best in the country.
The Ducks’ offense has propelled the team to the top of the College Football Playoff rankings. Dillon Gabriel has been sacked on just 2.9 percent of dropbacks, good for 12th in the country and second in the Big Ten. In total, the Oregon offensive line has allowed just 10 sacks. However, over the last eight games, Oregon has allowed just three sacks.
On the ground, the Ducks are fifth in the Big Ten with 2.16 yards per contact per rush. In seven of the team’s last eight games, Oregon has amassed at least 150 yards on the ground.
