Success finally achieved in trenches against Miami
Head coach Dan Enos said he has seen what success in the trenches can do for his team.
He pointed to the improvement of last year's linemen last as one reason for winning five of the last six games that season and, of course, it didn't hurt to have the NFL’s first draft pick blocking, either.
Enos was also witness to success at the line of scrimmage on Saturday in a win at Miami (Ohio), when Central Michigan rushed for a season-high 184 yards and the defensive line accumulated a season-high in tackles for loss with six and sacks with three.
“If you’re going to start a football team and you can build it inside-out, plus have a great quarterback, I think you have chance to win any week," Enos said.
When CMU hasn't won this season, there was often no room for starting sophomore running back Saylor Lavallii to run, getting tackled before he could make a move after receiving the ball.
But, according to Lavallii, the offensive line is starting to gel.
“They’ve come together as a group,” he said. “They’ve started to do some really good things.”
Lavallii said the running backs go as the offensive line goes, so the linemen must have been rolling since Lavallii rushed for a career-high 151 yards.
“It’s funny. We were just talking about that today,” Lavallii said. “I think running backs get too much credit and take too much blame. It’s really on the offensive line. If the line is opening up holes, it’s easy to hit it.”
On the other side of the line, defensive lineman Leterrius Walton had success with seven tackles and one sack.
He was not the only one. Defensive end Louis Palmer was also responsible for a sack, his first of the season, for a loss of 14 yards on third and six from CMU’s 37 yard-line.
He also had two tackles for a loss of 20 yards after tallying one for a loss in the first five games of the season.
“I thought (Walton) played his best game this year. He’s very good,” Enos said. “Blake Serpa made his presence felt and also Louis Palmer. Kelby Latter, our coaches felt at the end of the day, played his best game on the inside, too. They did a great job. They kept the game close and let our offense get on track.”
Contact Jeff Papworth: jeffpapworth@ymail.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffPapworth.
