Offensive line to help with edge in run game

The common misperception of Malzahn’s offense is labeling it a spread, a term he does not like. He looks at his hurry-up, no-huddle scheme as a run-first scheme and that gives the offensive line much different responsibilities than a spread.

“It’s a lot of power, gap scheme, if you will, and a lot of inside zone, and some counter action, is what he’s done in the run game,” offensive line coach J.B. Grimes said. “It’s very physical. We always want to keep a hard edge in the running game. I’ve always felt that way, as long as I’ve been coaching. I think this’ll be my 37th year that I’ll be coaching and I’ve always believed that you’ve got to keep a hard edge in the running game, you’ve got to keep it physical.

“Football is a tough game, played by tough people. We want to make sure we keep that, if nothing else, for our offensive line, for our running backs, for your defense as well. You need to keep a hard edge in the running game.”

Grimes said the biggest change he’s seen in his career coaching offensive line is the size of the players.

“Back when I first got into the business, if you had a 270-pound guy, he was a big guy. Now, everybody’s wondering, why he’s not 300 pounds? He’s not big enough if he’s not 300 pounds,” he said. “That’s the biggest difference, the size of these guys and the athleticism of these guys combined with the size, in my opinion.”