Iowa O-linemen going to need a bigger boat

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., — If you roll over the Facebook of pretty much any given Iowa offensive linemen, you'll find a PETA nightmare. Between the coyotes, turkeys, deer and assorted fish, you can say a few of these guys are on the avid side of outdoorsman.

So, this week a group of five jumped at the chance for some deep-sea fishing on a charter boat. They went about 10 miles off the coast of Fernandina Beach and had a run that included at least four sharks.

Yes, sharks. Not 'Jaws,' but Atlantic sharks, which, no, you won't find in Iowa rivers.

'When they hit your line, they crush it,' senior offensive tackle Andrew Donnal said. 'We didn't keep any of the sharks. I don't think the captain wanted much to do with the sharks.'

But the group, including Donnal, senior tackle Brandon Scherff, senior center Tommy Gaul and freshman O-linemen Ike Boettger and Boone Myers, did get a chance for a few pictures with a shark catch.

'We let the pro take them off the hook,' Donnal said. 'I just held it for the picture to make it look like I did it. Those things were strong. They fought like hell and were fun.'

The group did catch and keep a haul of sea bass. The captain cleaned them and the Omni Amelia Island fried 'quite the feast,' Donnal said.

Leaving the linebackers in good shape

... Quinton Alston is the lone senior in the linebacker group. The middle linebacker will depart and leave the keys to freshmen weakside linebacker Josey Jewell and outside linebacker Bo Bower. Sophomore Reggie Spearman also will likely play at weakside. Junior Travis Perry should return from an ankle injury and play some middle linebacker.

'Those guys are far ahead of where I was my freshman year,' Alston said. 'They continue to grow at a rapid pace, Josey, especially, and Reggie and Bo. They've been doing great things on and off the field. They're in the film room sometimes before I'm there and they teach me little things about the offense that I've never really thought of.'

Alston talked about true freshman Jameer Outsey (6-3, 220), who was his shadow this season at middle linebacker.

'That guy is about 230, I think, and he's really tall and he has some long arms,' Alston said. 'He asks me every day what his best weapons are and I say it's those arms. We have lockout drills and I can't even touch him.'

One freshman linebacker that defensive coordinator Phil Parker mentioned this week was Aaron Mends (6-0, 200).

'He's really strong in the weightroom and on the field,' Alston said. 'He's getting more confident, playing very fast and explosive. When he takes on fullbacks, he makes sure they feel it.'

The race is on

... Junior strongside linebacker Curt Maggitt is third in the SEC with 11 sacks, but he's second on his own team in tackles for loss with 14. Yes, it has been quite the game of one-up between Maggitt (6-3, 251) and true freshman defensive end Derek Barnett.

Maggitt has Barnett in sacks, 11-10, but Barnett (6-3, 270) has a sizable lead in tackles for loss, 20.5-14.

'We do compete a lot,' Maggitt said. 'During the game, 'I'm going to get a sack this series. I'll beat your sack. How many sacks do you have in this game so far?' There's some competition in it, but it's also the guys on the inside, doing the dirty work and pushing the pocket.'

Maggitt mentioned 'third-effort drills.' If you walk through the Tennessee football complex, you'll see the No. 63 plastered on quite a few places. UT coach Butch Jones said that symbolizes the six seconds a play lasts and the three efforts each player is expected to put in during those six seconds.

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