When you think of Tom Osborne’s national championship teams with Nebraska football, what players first come to mind? Tommie Frazier? Grant Wistrom? Lawrence Phillips? Ahman Green? How about the offensive lines?
The “Pipeline” nickname was established in 1994, featured on the back of the 1994 media guide, large concrete (?) pipes with Husker offensive linemen on and in front of them. Back-ups Steve Ott and Bill Humphrey are on the top, center Aaron Graham is in the middle, and standing in front, left to right, tackle Zach Wiegert, guard Brenden Stai, guard Joel Wilks and tackle Rob Zatechka.
The bottom five started every game.
Graham was the only one to return on the 1995 national championship team. The others in the line were tackles Chris Dishman and Eric Anderson and guards Ott and Aaron Taylor.
All five started every game.
Experience in the offensive line was a signature of Tom Osborne teams, and Matt Rhule’s third Nebraska team has that. Offensive line coach Donovan Raiola has used the term “watering bamboo” to describe how a line develops. Bamboo is watered every day, and “it takes about three years for it to hit the surface,” Raiola said recently.
During those three years, a foundation is being built and “the roots are stretching out, right?” he said. “And after your third year, that thing shoots up about 60 feet in two weeks, or something like that.”
The metaphor applies to the Husker offensive line because seven of what appear to be the top eight are juniors or seniors, players with solid foundations and the ability to help younger players.
“I think going into training camp, the overall unit has been the best since I’ve been here,” said Raiola. “I was talking to Coach (analyst Aaron) Coeling, my assistant, the other day. We haven’t seen too many units we’ve been around this deep, from the top group to the last guy on the roster.”
That’s reason for optimism about the Dylan Raiola-led offense. The line can protect him, to allow time to pick out receivers, and open holes for the Emmett Johnson-led running game.
During training camp, protection for Dylan Raiola was “awesome,” Donovan said. “It’s awesome.”
Offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen also has been complimentary of the offensive line. “Continuity is kind of what stands out from the top eight right now … how they play together, how they’re coming together and playing together as one. It’s good. We’ve got a good, solid, older group.”
Henry Lutovsky, Teddy Prochazka and Turner Corcoran are seniors, as is transfer Rocco Spindler. Justin Evans is a junior and so are transfers Elijah Pritchett and Tyler Knaak. Gunnar Gottula is a sophomore. “I think Gunnar’s done a heck of a job,” Matt Rhule said. “He’s playing really well.”
“The unit coming together as one is what I’ve seen in camp,” said Holgorsen.
Evans has described it as a “brotherhood.”
Repetition and experience were keys to success of the “Pipelines.” All of the linemen redshirted, much different then, and typically didn’t play significant minutes until their third or even fourth seasons.
It was reflective of what Donovan Raiola described, though not referring to the original “Pipelines,” dominating units “that take over games and in the fourth quarter, the defense is so beat-up that they can’t stop you, right? So I give credit to a lot of guys along the way that have upheld that standard,” he said, including current Huskers Corcoran, Lutovsky and Evans.
It’s more than “watering bamboo.”
“Along with that, we’re taking the ‘white belt’ mentality, whereas even though you might be a black belt in something, (a) martial arts kind of term, you always go back to the beginning, keep focusing on the process. It’s all repetition, repetition, right?” Donovan Raiola said.
Right.
