Iowa’s offensive tackles worked their way to the standard

IOWA CITY - Boone Myers just happens to have been born with a name that lends itself to loud yells.

Say it. Say Boone. See? The vowels strung together with the closed consonant at the end give it a natural crescendo and definite end. During Iowa's open practice in August, late on a hot, muggy day, the sophomore offensive tackle had just been beaten by senior defensive end Drew Ott. It was a long, brutal learning day.

Offensive line coach Brian Ferentz had seen enough.

'Boooooone!!!” ripped through a nearly empty Kinnick Stadium. And then other stuff. No, it wasn't fun.

'It was an uphill battle for me,” the 6-5, 300-pounder said. 'There were a lot of Boones being yelled throughout the year. I'm used to it by now, but, yeah, it's . . . fun.”

Believe it or not, Iowa's offensive linemen wouldn't have it any other way.

The No. 4 Hawkeyes (12-0) went into the season with two new starters at offensive tackle (Myers and fellow sophomore Ike Boettger). Center Austin Blythe was back for a fourth season in the starting lineup, and that turned out to be a fantastic place to start for the 2015 Hawkeyes. Guard Jordan Walsh went into this season looking for a signature year. Fellow guard Sean Welsh was a mystery. He sat out of spring practice because of undisclosed personal reasons and went from January to August without putting on a helmet.

Brian Ferentz had work to do with this group. If you think he coddled and held hands and made lunches and cut corners, well, 'Booooone.”

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz started coaching offensive lines at Iowa in 1981. His son, Brian, played center for the Hawkeyes (2002-05). James Ferentz was a three-year starter (2010-12). Steven, a junior, has been a No. 2 guard this season.

The family coat of arms is an O-line jersey number, a whiteboard with Xs and Os and diagonal lines and colorful rants to officials about holding.

The standard exists. It wasn't about to be compromised because the tackles had never seen a meaningful snap and had just one start between them (that being Boettger starting a game as a blocking tight end).

The 'Boooones” had meaning. Excuses? Don't even try. If you try to sell Brian Ferentz a bucket of crap, he's going to see right through it.

'Absolutely, that's the kind of guy he is,” Blythe said. 'That's the kind of person the head coach is. That's probably who he gets it from. That's who the Ferentzes are. They'll tell you how it is. They won't lie to you. That's what I love about Brian.”

Admit it. You squirmed watching Myers take on Ott last spring and in August. You didn't come away from Boettger's scraps with defensive end Nate Meier glowing with confidence. It certainly makes sense now.

One of the biggest and maybe most important numbers the Hawkeyes have produced this season is 203.6 rushing yards a game. It's been 13 years since Iowa cracked the 200 yards-per-game mark. The 2002 team put up 214.2 rushing yards a game. No Iowa team has touched that until this season.

It's the front-and-center battle in the Big Ten championship game against Michigan State (11-1). The Spartans have the most talented defensive front in the B1G. These are two teams that pride themselves on the physical, power running games. The challenge was extended and accepted the minute MSU clinched the Big Ten East last weekend.

'Well, I like to think of Iowa as a similar team to us, in that a lot of people don't talk about them as much throughout the conference,” MSU offensive tackle Jack Conklin said. 'We want to be that solid, that pounding team. Iowa has had that title for a long time, and we want to prove that we're the more physical team, and I think that's what is riding on this game, that's the chip on the shoulder. We want to be known as the most physical team in the conference and show that on Saturday.”

Iowa didn't roll out of bed this season with 'That pounding team” pressed on to a T-shirt.

Not only did this season begin with 'Booooooone,” Myers suffered a neck/shoulder stinger that cost him three games. Since he suffered a high-ankle sprain against Illinois on Oct. 10, Boettger, who started his Iowa career as a tight end, hasn't made it back into the lineup, and that's mostly because of Cole Croston.

Kirk Ferentz offered Croston, a junior, a scholarship in August. He didn't do it because Croston's dad, Dave, was an all-American at Iowa who played under Ferentz in the 1980s. It was because Ferentz recognized the strides Croston made with his body and the skills he honed.

At one point during his prep basketball career at Sergeant Bluff-Luton, Croston grabbed a rebound and held up about his head, which was about chest level for Sioux City East's Adam Woodbury, who's now Iowa's 7-1, 250-pound center.

'Woody is a little taller than me, as you know,” said Croston, who's now 6-5, 300. 'I held the ball over my head and Adam had it right at chest level. He started winging me around a little bit. That was back when I weighed 200 pounds, though. It's a little different story now.”

It's completely different. Croston's first start was left tackle at Wisconsin. He moved to right tackle six weeks ago and will make his ninth career start against the Spartans.

Against Northwestern, Iowa had to dip four tackles into its depth with Myers and Boettger out. Welsh started on the right side with Croston on the left. True freshman James Daniels started at left guard next to Croston. That left side with three starts helped Iowa rush for a season-high 294 yards, the most Northwestern has allowed this year.

(Of course, this goes hand-in-hand with strength and conditioning. Here's what strength and conditioning coach Chris Doyle had to say on that with the tackle trio: 'They have combined to gain 225 pounds in body weight from when we first met these kids in recruiting,” he said. 'When Ike was a senior in our camp, he was a 215-pound kid. Cole Croston was on this campus and in class at 225 pounds. And Boone Myers was a 235-pound guy when we first started following his progress. Every one of those guys weighs 300 pounds right now. That doesn't happen if you don't identify the right kids. These are awesome kids, three of the best kids you've ever met in your life.”)

How valuable is it for a player when he knows his coaches will laugh in his face if he tries to sell them an excuse?

'You never question what's expected of you, especially from Brian or either of the coach Ferentzes,” Blythe said. 'To have a coach who pushes you the way Brian does is probably why a lot of us offensive linemen have grown over the last four years.”

This week, Walsh was named first-team all-Big Ten. Blythe was a second-teamer. Welsh earned honorable mention.

Myers, who started at Iowa as a walk-on, didn't get an all-conference plaque. He did gain confidence and a peace of mind. He proved to himself that he can do this. So did Boettger. So did Croston.

'Each day, each week, we're coming out and we're getting better,” Myers said. 'We're getting better. You can see it on film. You can feel it when you're out there. We're starting to click better and it's getting exciting.

'We're getting to that time of year where we can prove ourselves.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com