Healthy, consistent offensive line leads way for Huskies

The Washington football team has a much smaller offensive line this season. The players themselves aren’t smaller. Each of the starting linemen is over 6-foot-3, and the only one who weighs less than 300 pounds is guard Colin Tanigawa. Rather, what’s smaller in this year’s line is the number of players used — and, more importantly, the number of players needed. After an injury-plagued 2012 campaign, the UW’s offensive line has stayed healthy in 2013, and that has led to positive results. Last season, the Huskies used six different starting combinations on the offensive line across 13 games. Forced to deal with injuries to vital pieces up front, the Huskies threw young guys into starting roles, often mixing and matching starters based on whoever was healthy. “Last year’s line was a lot less experienced,” center Mike Criste said. “Throughout the whole year, we kind of mismatched, with Shane Brostek getting playing time, James Atoe, me, Ben [Riva]. There was a lot of shuffling and a lot of inconsistency.” The line struggled to keep Keith Price upright, as he was sacked 38 times. Under constant pressure behind the patchwork offensive line, Price’s passing stats plummeted. But during the final six games of last season, the line finally found some consistency. Criste entered the starting lineup after the win over Oregon State, and the Huskies used the same combination for the rest of the season. “Towards the end of the year, we definitely kind of melded,” Criste said. “We kind of built a communication aspect. It was a lot easier to run the plays and make the calls we have to make. This year, we all have the experience under our belt, and we are not going to get caught off guard by anything.” This season, the line picked up right where it left off. The Huskies have started with the same offensive line in all four games, with Micah Hatchie at left guard, Dexter Charles at left tackle, Criste at center, Tanigawa at right guard, and Riva at right tackle. All in all, the consistency has helped turn the Huskies into an offensive juggernaut. Price, who has reverted to his 2011 form with a 72.2 percent completion rate and nine touchdowns, has only been sacked three times, which is tied for best in the conference. In the running game, the line has opened gaping holes for Bishop Sankey, who leads the nation in rushing yards per game at 151.8. A large part of the offensive production has been the switch to the no-huddle offense. After a full offseason of practice at running the high-speed offense, the line has become adept at running at a quick pace. However, this week poses a different type of challenge. Stanford brings in a talented and experienced front seven that has nine sacks in just four games this year. The Cardinal has also held opposing teams to just 105 rushing yards per game. But Price thinks the line is ready for the challenge. “They’ve been consistent,” Price said. “[Offensive line coach Dan] Cozzetto has done an awesome job in the offseason of getting their minds right and getting their bodies physically ready for the up-tempo offense. They understand that they have a huge challenge. They have to perform at an all-time high for us to be successful.” Note: Erik Kohler is on his way back from a foot injury that kept him out for much of last season. He has been “full go” in practice this week, according to head coach Steve Sarkisian, who also said the junior from southern California could make his season debut Saturday against Stanford. “He’s a guy who’s got experience and played a lot of football early in his career,” Sarkisian said. “He provides us a good amount of depth. If one of these guys does get nicked up, we know we have a player that can go in the game and has a great deal of experience and confidence in his own ability.” Reach reporter Daniel Rubens at sports@dailyuw.com. Twitter: @drubens12

Healthy, consistent offensive line leads way for Huskies

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