Tech O-Line hurting- 3 starters out ?

[MeanGreen61]

Walking a thin line

Injuries force Bulldogs to get young linemen ready for action

By Scott Beder

sbeder@thenewsstar.com

RUSTON — Petey Perot is going to be a busy man this week.

Louisiana Tech's offensive line coach is faced with the prospect of facing North Texas this Saturday without three of his starting offensive linemen.

Starting guard Aaron Lips and Marcus Lindsey are dinged up with an ankle and shoulder injury respectively. Starting center Marcus Stewart is also hobbled with an ankle injury. None of the injuries are considered serious, but all three are expected to have a light workload in practice this week to heal.

The injuries mean that inexperienced backups David Accardo, Bill Jones and Jacob Peeler will see extended practice time with the first team.

"We've got to make sure those guys have an idea of what to do and understand what the defense is," Perot said. "We're going to play Saturday no matter what."

Lips, a first-team All-Western Athletic Conference pick last year, injured his ankle three games ago against New Mexico State. The tough-as-nails Lips has made 40 consecutive starts and will no doubt make it 41 in Saturday's non-conference homecoming game, but he is far from 100 percent.

"The young guys need to get some extra work and some are going to have to step up," Lips said. "I try to help them any chance I get. I like it if they ask me questions."

Accardo and Jones are redshirt freshmen, while Peeler is a redshirt junior who was a junior college signee a year ago.

"They are going to get a ton of reps because the other guys might not be able to practice," Tech head coach Jack Bicknell said. "We've got to get those guys ready to go."

Lack of experienced backups in the offensive line was one of Bicknell's biggest concerns entering this season. That concern could be put to the test against North Texas.

"No question we have to get the guys behind (the starters) a lot of quality reps," offensive coordinator Conroy Hines said. "We hope the first line is ready to go, but if they can't the second unit has to get it done."

Accardo, a 6-5, 305-pounder from Mayde Creek High School in Houston, Texas, is the Bulldogs' most versatile backup, learning the left guard, right guard and center positions.

"I'm pretty much the utility player," said Accardo, a distant cousin of former Bulldog greats Tom, Pat and Joe Hinton. "I came here as a right tackle and now I'm at guard and playing everywhere. There's a lot to look at."

Accardo saw his first college action against New Mexico State when Lips first injured his ankle. He played much of the second quarter and all of the second half.

He also got some mop-up duty against Hawaii two weeks ago.

"(Playing) all the nerves out of it," Accardo said. "I feel more comfortable with the first string guys."

Jones is a 6-6, 296-pound tackle from Alief Taylor High School in Houston, Texas. He also got his first college action three weeks ago against New Mexico State.

"I'm not as nervous as I was, knowing I've already played a college snap," said Jones, whose father Bill was a linebacker at Stephen F. Austin. "I need to understand what the defense is doing and what their tendencies are."

The 6-3, 277-pound Peeler signed with Louisiana Tech out of Holmes (Miss.) Community College where he never missed a snap in two seasons and was a first-team academic All-American and second-team All-American his sophomore season. Peeler also saw his first action for the Bulldogs against New Mexico State.

"(Offensive line) is the one place we really don't have a lot of depth," Bicknell said. "We've got to work on it and get these guys ready to play and step up if called upon."

[FirefightnRick]

They are going to be without three of their starters against our 5 on offense. So what will the excuse be if Tech routes us this week? "Tech's backups are much better than our starting 5?".

Rick

Edited October 19, 2005 by FirefightnRick

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

---WE definitely have a chance with those three players out. We should beat a team with only 8 defensive players........Oh!! ....... They are going to put replacements in??........ Well maybe not.

---I still can't believe we got eight (8) turnovers and only won by 3....... to a team in their first year of D-I.

[Eagle1855]

---I still can't believe we got eight (8) turnovers and only won by 3....... to a team in their first year of D-I.

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Well if its any consolation, we lost to a team that was in its first year of Div1A last year, so this is a step forward...