While it seems as though nearly every unit of the ASU football team's offense is at a slower pace than last season, head coach Dirk Koetter said his offensive line is getting better all the time.
Such is the case with the hogs up front - never getting the proper recognition. But if the Sun Devils are to defeat No. 10 USC this weekend, it likely will be because their offensive line was able to bust some heads.
The Trojans possess one of the toughest quartets of defensive linemen in the nation, meaning the Sun Devils will have to keep low, chop their feet and get off the ball as well as they have all season.
"[USC is] one of the tougher d-lines in the nation," senior right guard Regis Crawford said. "We're going to have to play big. If we don't play big, we probably won't get anything going on offense. We've got to really take pride in what we're doing this week."
Junior center Drew Hodgdon echoed Crawford's thoughts.
"[USC's d-line] is very talented," Hodgdon said. "They're going to be one of the best fronts we're going to face this year. They're very fundamentally sound and perform very disciplined.
"[Playing a front like that] gets you excited, gets you motivated to step it up an extra notch."
ASU has had little success rushing the ball in the last two seasons, but the Sun Devils may have finally righted the ship with their ground attack. During a 45-17 loss to OSU on Saturday, sophomore tailback Hakim Hill enjoyed a breakout game with 115 yards rushing.
"[The line] showed they can do an excellent job in the running game," Koetter said.
Hill said ASU's offensive line is "working better as a core, looking better as a unit" and trusting each other. Although Hill describes USC's front four as "machines," he said he has "all the faith in the world" the Sun Devils can block them.
ASU's linemen have given up only five sacks in four games this season. Last season, the Sun Devils gave up 49 sacks in 14 games - finishing last in that category in the Pac-10 - as the unit was composed of four new starters.
Crawford - the unit's only three-year starter who has returned to his natural position this season after playing left tackle a year ago - called the Sun Devils' protection of junior quarterback Andrew Walter the line's biggest improvement. He added that good chemistry is the reason for the line's solid play.
"We've been working better for two years, so our chemistry is better this year," Crawford said. "We know each other that much better. I was at a new spot. We had four new starters. Now everybody knows each other and knows how they play, so that's always going to be a good thing."
The Sun Devils returned all five starters from a season ago, yet not every one is starting this season as the positions on the unit have seemingly gone through a blender.
After Crawford moved back to right guard, Hodgdon, last year's right guard, moved to center. Last season's center Tony Aguilar is now lining up as the team's left guard.
Sophomore Grayling Love, the line's sixth man from a season ago, is now the team's right tackle. And filling in for left tackle this season is redshirt freshman Andrew Carnahan, who beat out sophomore Chaz White. White started at right tackle last season as a true freshman and was expected to take over the left tackle spot before Carnahan beat him out in spring football.
"We compete against each other, and we competed every day through spring," Carnahan said of White. "I was just glad I was able to come out on top of that. I've played [left tackle] all through high school, and I'm just really glad to be able to get on the field this year."
Carnahan agreed the line has been playing better as a unit, but they still have some things to work on. This weekend will test their progress as they face some of the toughest competition in the nation.
Reach the reporter at christopher.drexel@asu.edu.
