A Firm Foundation From Where to Proceed

The group needed three new parts, including filling the prime position of center. That was a spot which wasn't filled until about two weeks shy of the season opener. On the road. Against a Big 10 team.

In comes Aitor Urionabarrenechea to slot in the middle, replacing a five-year starter in Jacob Gardner. "Big A" as he's known to those on the team who struggle to pronounce his name (mainly, everybody) was expected to start at guard, but when he slid over, Liam Wortmann, a player long on experience but not at Division I, found a spot. Christian Martin made his first start at right tackle.

Naturally, there was a bit of curiosity as to how they'd handle the game. Not just individually, but as a group.

The answer: Just fine, thank you.

"I wasn't nervous going into the game," offensive line coach Bill Best said. "I mean, I had some questions. Those guys did really, really well. I think they more than held their own. It was a Big 10 defense. Those are talented dudes we played against, and we executed some run-game stuff that was really, really intricate, and they did a great job in that. Now the floor has been set."

One which requires a step or two up, making the ceiling appear rather tall.

Officially, the unit gave up two sacks – neither time would the blame be put at the line's feet – and it created gaps for Jalen Dupree to run through to the tune of 92 yards and a touchdown. Tahj Bullock added another short scoring run in the contest.

The line looked sharp for a debut performance. Dare say, it even felt somewhat natural

"There was a couple of slip-ups here and there, but overall, especially three new dudes -- me, left tackle and right guard -- for us three being new, we played really well together, I think," Urionabarrenechea said. "Communication was on point most of the time. Let's say 99% of the time, communication was on point. We all knew where we were going, we all knew how to communicate without even talking to each other, so we were already in that mindset of we already knew what to do before we even say it."

Like any center, he was the linchpin to hold it all together. He ran point on communication, and head coach Jay Norvell noted he and quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi worked well together, reading fronts, setting up protections and relaying checks.

As a redshirt sophomore, the first-time starter earned himself a Big A for performance, nervous as he was prior to the game. A lot was put in his hands, even finding his snaps were better without his glove, which he discarded early on.

"The first warm-up and all that, I was a little nervous before getting in there. It'd be my first start, so, you know, I don't want to mess anything up," he said. "Man, after that first play, stuff fell, stuff went away; it was fine. It was fun. The nerves went away.

"It felt like I was just playing with my brothers, and it just felt like practice, honestly. It felt easier than practice itself. It was a mindset."

Not only that, the big guy (he's 6-foot-5, 320 pounds) showed some fire which caught Best off guard in a very encouraging way.

Urionabarrenechea has a California cool to him, rather reserved most of the time to those around him. Best thinks him getting his chance to play a bigger role triggered something in a positive way.

"It was cool to see. This is my third year with Big A," Best said. "He's a very, very reserved, quiet guy. He always competes, but he's really quiet, and it was really cool for him to come off the sideline after that on that first drive. He comes over, he's yelling. He's into it, a different version of him that I've never seen, and I was like, 'OK, there it is.' There's the switch we were looking for. He flipped it.

"He's got a good IQ. He works at it. He's not Jacob, so everybody had a question mark. We were so accustomed to a guy like Jacob Gardner, but Big A is going to do fine. We're just going to keep doing the fundamentals that we always do, and his football IQ will continue to grow, and he'll be better for it."

In college football, experience is coveted. But it has to come from somewhere, and that's getting time on the field, even as a reserve. That makes moving into a starting role a bit easier, but it's not a cure-all.

The flip side is starting over, mostly from scratch, can create some advantages in other ways, and Norvell is a believer that can be the case. Particularly for a group growing together.

"Our offensive line, I think, is really talented. Where we lacked a lot of experience, I think we're more athletic this year," Norvell said. "So, we've really got the basis of a strong offensive line.

"We really protected the quarterback well. Brayden kind of ran out of bounds late in the game, so they really didn't get to him in the course of the game. That's a credit to our line. And I really feel like that group played well, and I think we can build on that for the rest of the year."

Colorado State is a team which needs to build in areas outside of the offensive line, but it is a key group. An offense can have all the playmakers at the disposal it wants, but if a quarterback doesn't have time to throw or a running back can't find a seam, the play is lost at inception.

Moving forward, it's a group doing so with confidence.

"There's no going downhill from there. Everything's going to go uphill," Urionabarrenechea said. "We're going to get better as a group, better communication-wise, better overall at what we're doing together. We had one communication mistake last week, but that should never happen again, just because we're going to grow together."

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Tahj Bullock

Jalen Dupree

Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi

Jacob Gardner

Christian Martin

Aitor Urionabarrenechea

Liam Wortmann

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