It’s almost sacrilegious to make the comparison, especially with such a teeny-tiny sample size. Check that… it’s not only sacrilegious, it’s blasphemous to liken any offensive line – especially one with all of eight games under its belt in various combinations – to the big eaters of the mid-1980s who made a habit of pushing people around.
Back then, Willard Reaves was a force out of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers backfield, setting records – and being named the Canadian Football League’s Most Outstanding Player in 1984 – while running behind a dominant offensive line in front of him he nicknamed his ‘White Horses’.
That bunch featured the likes of Chris Walby, Nick Bastaja, John Bonk, Lyle Bauer, Val Belcher, and David Black, and was part of a dominant side that opened giant holes for Reaves from 1984-87 and also won three Grey Cups over a seven-year span from ’84-90.
Pardon the trek down memory lane, but it’s been a long time since an offensive line and the tailback in these parts seemed so connected as Andrew Harris and the crew in front of him have become in recent weeks.
And it’s not a stretch to connect the dots between their ability to control the line of scrimmage and the Bombers’ recent three-game win streak.
“You dictate the game when you dictate the line of scrimmage,” said Harris after Bomber practice on Tuesday. “We dictate the physicality and ultimately that dictates the score. When those guys are firing off and playing with physicality and intensity and aggression… even if they miss guys in the run game, there are lanes, there are places to cut, places to move.
“Sometimes when they’re timid or worried or scared to make a mistake, that’s when they get pushed back and it makes it tough as a running back.”
The Bombers have used three different O-line combinations through eight games, the adjustments all due to injuries. Three players have started all eight games: left tackle Stanley Bryant, centre Matthias Goossen and right guard Sukh Chungh, with Jermarcus Hardrick having six starts at both guard and tackle, Travis Bond three starts at left guard, and Manase Foketi one start at right tackle.
That unit has Harris currently leading the CFL in rushing, but also kept Matt Nichols clean in the win over Toronto before the bye week – a rarity at any level.
“We didn’t even notice it until the after the game,” said Bond. “It’s very rare. I played with a dual-threat quarterback in high school so that was different. But it was rare in college, very rare in the NFL. So, keeping Matt clean? That’s the ultimate goal for every offensive lineman.”
“But once you have a game like that you’ve set the bar for yourself.”
Travis Bond
It’s an enormously high bar, to be sure. And that clean sheet will be near impossible against the blitz-happy defensive front seven of the Montreal Alouettes, this week’s opponent. But remember, the Bomber O-linemen are hardly what you would call a cohesive unit yet and still feature a couple of Canadians in sick bay in Patrick Neufeld and Jeff Keeping.
The point here? This unit could continue to morph into a force with more snaps and more depth.
“The biggest thing I feel we’ve got growing is we’re putting it on film that we’re a physical unit,” said Hardrick. “When you play us, you’re going to get hit in the mouth. We’re a physical group, we’re going to play to the end and we have fun out there. We run around, we run to the ball, we do all the dirty work. The guys are loving it and that’s what makes us good.
“We set the tone. We come out early in the game and are hitting guys in the mouth? There’s a different look on that defence. And I feel like we’re just getting started.”
Now, every O-line has a certain bond, often built around their affection for red meat and lager. This current crew is no different. But Harris, now a seven-year veteran in this league, will tell you there’s something different about this bunch. Different in a good way.
“Honestly, in my whole career in the CFL I haven’t been this close with an O-line as I am with these guys.”
Andrew Harris
“There’s a relationship I’ve never had before and it’s translating onto the field. They really want me to be successful and I want to be successful for them.
“It’s how we celebrate after touchdowns, how we talk in meetings, how we go out together to eat and hang out off the field. They’re awesome to hang out with… everything about them, from the way we work, the way we communicate, it just makes it that much more fun on the field.
“This kind of cohesiveness, I’ve never experienced it before. It’s during those ebbs and flows of a game when you can look a guy in the eye and say ‘Let’s get this going’ and you can actually feel it. It’s something I’ve never experienced, but it makes a world of difference.
“And it really feels like we’re just getting started.”
BOMBER REPORT – AUGUST 23, 2016
MOVING PIECES:
Both Jermarcus Hardrick and Manase Foketi took turns at the right tackle spot at practice on Tuesday. WR Rory Kohlert did not participate, with Julian Feoli-Gudino stepping in to take reps in a starting receiving corps that also featured Clarence Denmark, Gerrard Sheppard, Thomas Mayo and Quincy McDuffie.
McDuffie, who was banged up in the win over Edmonton on July 28th, could return to give the offence a vertical threat and split the kick-return duties with Kevin Fogg. Asked if taking some of the return duties away from Fogg might be beneficial because of the dangers in the kicking game, Bombers coach Mike O’Shea said:
“Every football play is a football play… I don’t look at one play being riskier than the other play. Part of being a good returner is being elusive, too. If Quincy gets back on then he’ll share the return duties and that could obviously keep Kevin Fogg going longer through the game. But as I said earlier, I think Kevin Fogg is a guy who could play four teams (punt and kickoff return/cover) and start on defence. I really do. He just seems to have a great motor. But Quincy is an electric returner also and they’re different styles.”
