Twenty-eight sacks.
Think about that for a second.
Twenty-eight sacks. In 11 games.
The MSU football team had a long list of problems in 2006, but no group was more disappointing than the offensive line. No one could stay healthy, so no one could find a rhythm, so no chemistry could be created.
And the end result was the 28 total sacks suffered by quarterbacks Drew Stanton and Brian Hoyer. Wisconsin and Illinois were the only Big Ten teams that allowed more sacks than the Spartans, giving up 29 and 30, respectively.
The challenge of strengthening the offensive line remains a major issue for the 2007 Spartans, especially with guard/center Kyle Cook, MSU's best lineman from 2006, now graduated. But the new coaching staff is determined to milk all it can out of MSU's current roster.
"You're trying to find the five best, and play them in the best position you possibly can," offensive line coach Dan Roushar said.
That's easier said than done, especially when a few key linemen — particularly senior left tackle Mike Gyetvai — are missing spring practices with injuries.
"If Mike were out here, I think we'd probably align guys a little bit differently, but at the end of the day, it's fundamentals," Roushar said. "It's getting better with the fundamentals. If guys on the left side can help us on the right side, then that's what we'll do."
The right side is the lone part of MSU's front line that has been consistent. Then-sophomore right tackle Jesse Miller and then-sophomore right guard Roland Martin were the only constants for MSU's line in 2006, staying healthy while the rest of the linemen caught the injury bug.
Martin said he's working to break the habits he formed under Jeff Stoutland, MSU's previous line coach, and use the techniques preferred by Roushar.
"Once you do something for so long, it gets kind of engraved in your brain, so once you get a little tired from repetition, you tend to do the same thing you've been doing for three years," Martin said. "It's a little bit different, and I've got to get the habit out."
Roushar said the players are making progress. It may not be readily apparent, but it's there — and it's important to the players to know that they are getting better.
"Every day, it's like take a half step forward and a couple steps backward.
Then you come in and you look at the tape, and where you were discouraged, you feel maybe a little bit more encouraged," Roushar said. "You say, 'You know what? We were pretty close there. If we can just do that a little bit better — be a little bit lower, be a little bit more determined.'"
Which brings us back to those 28 sacks. Hoyer, now a junior, certainly doesn't want to be on the receiving end of 28 more. And he thinks the new offensive line — under Roushar's tutelage — will be better than it was in the past.
"We're putting in some new protections and stuff, so they're still kind of learning," Hoyer said. "They all have experience, and they're coming together well. I think once they get all those different protections down, it'll be pretty well set."
