When an offensive lineman is noticed during a game, it’s usually bad news.

Offensive lineman get noticed for jumping offside, holding and giving up quarterback sacks. That’s why some of the best performances by an offensive line are ones where they don’t make much noise. It’s a job without reward or personal glory for the big men.

At last Tuesday’s BG press conference, BG coach Urban Meyer was afraid that his five starting offensive lineman couldn’t handle Temple’s defensive line. The Owls front line oversized the Falcon blockers. Meyer’s prediction was partly true for at least the first half.

BG quarterback Andy Sahm said after the game that the first half was the worst half of football that he played in a Falcon uniform. Much of Sahm’s trouble was that the junior quarterback didn’t have enough time to get rid of the ball. The Owls swarmed Sahm and made it tough for BG to establish a running game.

“I was getting thrown on the ground a little bit and the ball was plopping out of my hands,” Sahm said. “It was frustrating because we weren’t running the ball well either. They were heating us up in the first half and we weren’t handling it.”

But the half made quite a difference for the Falcon lineman. After the first half, BG rushers combined for zero yards on 13 attempts. The O-line came out and stood its ground. Sahm was able to relax in the pocket, throwing career-tying two touchdown passes. The offensive line gained more momentum as the game continued, pushing Temple defenders backwards to help open the running game.

“In the second half, they did an unbelievable job stepping up on the protection,” Sahm said. “On my touchdown passes I just sat back in the pocket and relaxed. You can’t ask for anything more than that as a quarterback.”

For the third straight game, BG quarterbacks Andy Sahm and Josh Harris managed to move around the pocket without getting sacked. There were no offside or holding penalties on the Falcon’s line. It was the quiet job that Sahm and company needed to win.

“They were the main key,” Sahm said. “They left some big holes for Joe (Alls) and gave us some unbelievable opportunities. They won the game for us in the second half.”

O-line turnaround

Last year the Falcons O-line gave up a nation-leading 51 sacks in 11 games. It was a statistic BG football coach Urban Meyer noticed and addressed right away when he joined the Falcons.

“In our first team meeting I had the offensive line stand up,” Meyer said. “I said 51 sacks; you have got to be kidding me. I said we’re going to address and correct that when we hire two new line coaches.”

Meyer hired John Hevesy and Greg Studrawa to guide the offensive line. The vast improvement of the line has given Meyer and the team some needed confidence for BG’s front row.

“The first five guys have developed into a good offensive line,” Meyer said. “We should developed into one of the best offensive lines in the conference with those guys out there.”