As the members of the Virginia offensive line walked up to the line of scrimmage for the first time Saturday against Southern California, they knew they were about to face one of the toughest challenges of their collegiate careers. Their task: Battle valiantly in the trenches against a USC defensive line that ranked 16th in the nation in sacks and held nine of its opponents to fewer than 100 yards rushing during the 2009 season.
Despite the constant siege from talented and speedy defenders on the opposite side of the ball, the Cavaliers managed to hold the Trojan defense to only two sacks and open up holes that allowed the running game to rack up 150 yards on the ground.
Was this really the same offensive line that surrendered an abominable 41 sacks and blocked for a Cavalier rushing attack that averaged 2.9 yards per carry just a mere season ago in Gregg Brandon's disaster of an offense?
"We know after last year that we had to pick it up," sophomore offensive tackle Oday Aboushi said. "You can't move the ball unless you start at the offensive line. To have a good offense going, you need the five up front doing their job. We've definitely improved."
Through two games, the offensive line - which only returned three starters from last year's unit - already has demonstrated noticeable improvements on the field. In addition to the impressive performance against the Trojans, the Cavaliers held a hungry Richmond defense to a single sack during their season-opening 34-13 victory. The Virginia line also created enough push up front against the Spiders to allow senior running back Keith Payne to burst up the middle for a career-high 114 yards rushing and four touchdowns - highlighted by three consecutive runs that totaled 43 yards during the third quarter.\n"To get down in the trenches and move people around, [there's] nothing more fun," said Aboushi, smiling.
Following his strong performance against Richmond, Aboushi earned the first personal accolade of his two-year career at Virginia. He was named ACC Co-Offensive Lineman of the Week Sept. 7, becoming the first Cavalier to receive the honor since former right tackle Will Barker was recognized in 2008.
This past Monday, senior tight end Joe Torchia became the second of offensive line coach Ron Mattes' standouts to receive the weekly award.
Torchia had a career night during Virginia's narrow 17-14 loss against the Trojans, as he led the Cavalier offense with five receptions for 73 yards - both career highs. Torchia also bolstered Virginia's push up front, blocking Trojans left and right to help the Cavalier offense rush for an impressive 4.2 yards per carry.
Coming off shoulder surgery during the off-season, Torchia perhaps has exceeded expectations. Now that he is fully recovered, offensive coordinator Bill Lazor and coach Mike London expect Torchia to continue to be an integral part of both the Cavaliers' aerial and ground attacks throughout the season.
"We'd like to be able to get the tight end involved in the game and sometimes flex him out and try to create a mismatch with him and a safety, or bring him on the edge and let him down block on a defensive end or a linebacker," London said. "We're going to try to do more things with our tight ends and keep trying to find out who are the playmakers. It's just an ongoing process to find out who can step up and make plays for us."
Like Aboushi, Torchia is embracing his fresh start and increased role as a go-to playmaker and run-block specialist, especially after last season, during which he saw few opportunities to make a difference in Brandon's spread offense.
"It's nice to come back to a two-tight end set, a really pro-style offense where the tight end is heavily involved," Torchia said. "Coach London brought me aside and he told me that tight ends were going to be a big part of our offense's success this year and that's something that myself the rest of the tight ends are very excited about"
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