Cougars flourishing with more depth, better talent on offensive line

Washington State University offensive line coach Clay McGuire admits he could be sleeping better — but it’s not all bad.

It helps to see the big-man cupboard full of hungry, talented, young blockers for the Cougars offense.

When coach Mike Leach and some of the current staff arrived late in 2011, the Cougars only had six offensive linemen on scholarship.

Now, WSU boasts as deep and talented an offensive line since the one a decade ago that helped former quarterback Alex Brink throw for nearly 3,000 yards, and running back Jerome Harrison nearly reach the 2,000-yard mark.

That 2005 offensive-line group — Bobby Byrd, Riley Fitt-Chappell, Charles Harris, Norvell Holmes and Nick Mihlhauser — started all 12 games together.

That hasn’t happened this season, especially in recent weeks with left tackle Joe Dahl absent for the past three games, and center Riley Sorenson missing last weekend’s game against Colorado.

That has given senior Jacob Seydel, junior Sam Flor and freshman Andre Dillard a chance for more playing time.

“The depth has been key, because there have been times in the past we haven’t had that,” McGuire said. “Ideally, you want to continue playing your starting five like we did (most) of last year, and even two years ago when we went to a bowl game. Continuity is big, but it is nice to have depth.”

The leadership and dependability starts and ends on the left side of the offensive line with fifth-year seniors Gunnar Eklund (43 career starts) and Dahl (33) — easily the most experienced linemen on the team.

It is hard to know where this unit would be without Eklund, who walked on to the team out of Lake Stevens High School in 2011 for former coach Paul Wulff. Eklund was 6-foot-7, 270 pounds when he arrived, and shifted between left tackle and left guard.

Now, as a senior, he weighs 305 pounds — and has started 36 games in a row, mostly at left guard.

“He is invaluable,” McGuire said. “His leadership has been unbelievable. He has really been a spearhead of creating the continuity and identity for those guys up front.”

Eklund, a personable yet soft-spoken farm boy, said he and Dahl have a pegged a nickname for themselves — “Shake and Bake,” from the movie “Talladega Nights.”

“We’ve been by each other’s side the whole time,” Eklund said.

In fact, many of the offensive linemen have nicknames:

▪ Sorenson, a junior, is “The Wizard” — mainly because of his love for video games, and the fact he is the most intelligent guy on the line.

“He is a genius,” Eklund said.

▪ Eduardo Middleton, the redshirt junior from Oceanside, California, has manned right guard for two seasons, although he did play some left guard in recent weeks when Eklund went back out to left tackle.

“He is ‘Fast Eddy’ … because he never takes a play off,” Eklund said. “He is a workhorse.”

▪ Left tackle Cole Madison, a sophomore, is the best athlete of the group. He came from Kennedy High School as a tight end, but did not stay there very long.

“His nickname is ‘The Moose,’ ” Eklund said. “When he came here (on a recruiting trip), I was his host. He thought he was going to be a tight end, but I didn’t. And in the first practice, he was working with the offensive linemen.

“The kid is an athlete, and has all the tools to be one of the best tackles in the country.”

WSU has allowed a Pac-12-high 36 sacks this season — which isn’t as bad as it seems, considering that quarterbacks Luke Falk and Peyton Bender have combined to drop back to pass nearly 700 times in 11 games.

“We go out and look for athleticism and length … and know we can mold them like we want to. On top of that, they have to be very competitive,” McGuire said.

“It’s been one of those things, you just never know how comfortable you are (playing different linemen) until you have to do it. I can’t say I’ve been sleeping like a baby, but I tell you what, I am proud of those guys who have come in. They have stepped up, and there hasn’t been much of a drop-off.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2015 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Cougars flourishing with more depth, better talent on offensive line."