North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Offensive Line Gets a Dose of Defense
4/3/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
BY TIM PEELER
This spring, he’s experimenting with a way to do that, with the help of a couple of veteran defensive linemen.
“We have to be much better up front on the offensive line,” O’Brien said at the opening of spring practice two weeks ago. “It is imperative that we can get guys who can be physical players up front.”
To do that, O’Brien asked junior Ted Larsen and senior John Bedics to make the move across the line of scrimmage.
For Larsen, the move was not completely new: he played offensive tackle for two years at
“It’s completely different than playing on the offensive line in high school,” Larsen said. “I am still trying to wrap my mind around all the things an offensive lineman has to do. So far, the hardest thing has been trying to remember all the rules of what I can do and not do.”
But Larsen believes he can contribute, just as he did as a starter for two games last year at defensive tackle.
“I think I bring not only the experience of starting eight or nine games the last two years, but also an aggression and physicality that we need to defend the quarterback,” Larsen said.
The transition has been a little more difficult for Bedics, who has been a defensive lineman his entire football career, going back to his high school days in
“There is a lot to learn,” Bedics admitted. “But it’s a good learning experience, and I am enjoying the challenge. I told Coach O’Brien I was willing to do whatever I could to make the team better. Of course, I miss being on the defensive line and having to block the guys I used to play with, but I enjoy what I am doing so far.”
Bedics, who started the first three games at defensive tackle last season before suffering a high ankle sprain, said he uses his knowledge of how a defensive lineman goes about his business to his advantage as much as possible.
“I think it definitely helps,” he said. “You just think about what you used to do and how you used to think as a defensive lineman, those tendencies and apply it to what you see when you walk up to the line of scrimmage.”
When he needs help, he leans on the experience of fifth-year senior Meares Green, who played both tackle and guard before moving to center in the spring.
“[Offensive line coach Don] Horton has done a great job of teaching me techniques,” Bedics said. “Meares has been a great help to me. Other guys like Julian Williams and Curtis Crouch are all veterans who are helping me out every day I am out here.”
So far, Horton has been pleased with what Larsen and Bedics have done in the Wolfpack’s first six spring practices.
“They are both very good athletes and they are both very aggressive and physical,” Horton said. “That’s a good combination when you are talking about the offensive line. Right now, I would say they are a little behind in terms of understanding the offense and the schemes and techniques.
“But they are both good learners, so I think they will be fine. They have a lot of good things going for them.”
Both Bedics and Larsen are working at guard, where they are competing with Crouch, a fifth-year senior, and redshirt sophomore Gary Gregory. While the Wolfpack coaching staff doesn’t discuss its depth chart prior to the first game, Horton said Bedics and Larsen are getting equal reps throughout the spring with the other guard candidates.
Overall, Horton has been pleased with the progress of the entire offensive front.
“We’ve been working a lot on fundamentals, seeing who can make plays,” Horton said. “We are definitely improved from last year and getting better. We are better athletically. We have better chemistry.
“The second time around, everything goes a little better.”
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
