No. 4 — C Austin Blythe

No. 4 . . .

Unless there's something unforeseen, senior Austin Blythe (6-3, 290) will play center for his senior season. It probably feels as if the Williamsburg native has been center every snap of his career at Iowa. The reality is that this will be his fourth season as a starter and he's only played center for one full year (2013).

In 2012, Blythe started nine games at right guard (he missed a few starts with an ankle injury). Then, with the graduation of James Ferentz, a three-year starter at center, Blythe moved into the spot for the 2013 season and steered it all the way through.

Last year, Blythe started the first six games at center. Then, injuries hit the guard position and he made the switch at Maryland before finishing the season with six starts at left guard. Actually, the guard thing started when Jordan Walsh suffered an injury against Indiana.

'I was like, 'oh yeah, we'll have someone come in and play right guard,'' Blythe said. 'I saw the guy who came into replace [senior center Tommy Gaul] and I was like 'Aw crap, I'm moving to guard.' It was good. I played right guard, started at right guard at Maryland and then our left guard got hurt [Sean Welsh], so I moved to left guard. I played all three positions last year.'

Iowa has a pool of players at guard, including true freshman James Daniels, so Blythe seems buffered from that duty this season.

'It's fun, I like playing center,' Blythe said. 'It might be in my nature, but getting into blocks as fast as possible is fun and that's what I like to do.'

This is good. You want a 23-year-old fifth-year senior who's married calling out the defensive fronts and identifying the ID linebacker, so the guards and tackles know what combinations they'll be blocking. Along with that, Blythe will tell the guard next to him if he's in a combo block with him. So, there is some math to this test.

With everything that's going on with Iowa's offensive line — two first-year starters at offensive tackle, some unsettled elements at guard — it wouldn't hurt to have a fifth-year married guy handle the nerve center, if you will, of the O-line.

Wait, married? . . .

Yes, Blythe married Kiley Ritchie this summer (May 16). Actually, their honeymoon was spent in Aruba and Blythe said he fretted missing a few summer workouts, but did enjoy it eventually.

Kiley Ritchie is the daughter of Curt Ritchie, who happened to be Austin's high school head coach at Williamsburg. They were engaged in June 2013. They've known each other since third grade, but haven't dated that long.

'I give her a hard time for hating me all through high school,' Blythe said, 'and finally giving me a chance in college. We went to high school together, and the rest is history.'

Why get married at such a young age? (You were thinking it!! I didn't ask it, but here it is anyway).

'I just felt confident about my attitude and how I've dealt with things that being married wouldn't be that big of a distraction or that big of an adjustment for me,' Blythe said.

Kiley is a teacher at English Valleys. The two live in west Iowa City, not terribly far from the football complex.

'She's very supportive and she does a lot for me,' Blythe said.

Outlook . . .

During Big Ten media days, the players sit at a table and take interview questions from everyone. During his time, Blythe was nice enough to take two surveys and answer about 15 questions about Nebraska (for a state with such a small population, there is an army of media that cover Nebraska football, I have no idea how the math works on that).

At some point during this session, a representative from the Senior Bowl strode up and took a seat next to Blythe. He wanted him to know that they would have their eyes on him this year and that his flexibility as guard and center was a good thing.

A Senior Bowl invite would be huge for Blythe. Centers need every chance they can get to boost their NFLness. Blythe is probably headed that way, whether that invite comes or not.

He's probably the center for the Hawkeyes this season, unless something unforeseen happens. He'll be the fifth-year senior married guy at center.

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