With the Red apparently re-committing to its ground game, the offensive line certainly has its work cut out for the upcoming season. Last year’s group offered sufficient protection to quarterback Nathan Ford ’09 — it allowed 19 sacks, fourth in the Ivy League — while he accumulated the second-most passing yards in school history, and most in the league. However, it struggled to open up holes for running back Randy Barbour, now a senior, as he struggled to just 3.6 yards per carry (seventh in the Ancient Eight) and five touchdowns on the season.

The 2009 offensive line is anchored by returning starters Quentin Bernhard and Andrew Bohl, who will play left tackle and right tackle, respectively.

“[Bernhard and Bohl] will be as good as anybody in the league,” predicted head coach Jim Knowles ’87.

Both seniors will be manning new positions on the line; Bernhard played right tackle in 2008 and Bohl was at the right guard position. The rest of the line will also face some adjustments, at least at the start of the season. Junior Matt Green switched over from the defensive line and sophomore Matt Harrison will be experiencing his first games at the varsity level this season. Junior Paul Ostick, last season’s backup center, is the only starter remaining at his original position.

“It’s a lot different, there’s no one coming back to the same spot,” said Bernhard, a second-team All-Ivy preseason pick. “The young guys stepped up a lot over spring ball and camp but it’ll be interesting to see what happens against a new defense, a real defense.”

Still, the seniors expressed excitement at the team’s re-tooled, run-oriented offense.

“Last year we really were a straight passing offense, trying to air it out for 300 or 400 yards per game,” Bohl said. “We’re going to get a little more physical, try to set the tone.”

Physicality and tone-setting were popular buzzwords last preseason, too — the original plan for 2008 was to focus more on the run and take pressure off Ford. But the team gave up a few early touchdowns and had no choice but to turn to the passing game, time after time.

“We fell behind in games,” Barbour said, “and passing was our main focal point when we fell behind in games.”

Like all the other units on the team, the offensive line is confident its conditioning will bring the ground-pounding plan to fruition. Rather than sitting back and relying on bulk to protect the quarterback, the Red hopes to get up and go after the opposing linemen. The average weight of the starting line is 280.6 pounds, down from 297.2 last year. Bernhard himself dropped 16 pounds, according to the official roster.

“We’re a lot lighter and a lot quicker, in a lot better shape,” Bernhard said.

But what good is an aggressive run game if the leaner offensive line cannot protect the quarterback? New signal-caller Ben Ganter is more of a pocket passer than Ford, and he might be susceptible to frequent blitzes if the line does not hold its ground. Bernhard, for one, is not concerned about the transition.

“We got a lot of reps with Ben over the past few years,” he said. “[Ganter] was my quarterback when we were freshmen, so it’s been a pretty easy transition.”