Breaking Down The Badgers: Offensive Line

When you look at Wisconsin's offensive line compared to the Noles' offensive line, one word comes to mind- experience. Wisconsin's offensive line features three seniors who seemingly have been starting since Ron Dayne was in the Badgers' backfield.

All five of their starters are veterans who've seen every possible scheme, but now they will now have to deal with a Nole defense that is led by outstanding defensive end Everette Brown. Badger left tackle Gabe Carimi will probably get to know Brown very well at the Champs Sports Bowl.

As they say, it all starts up front. Wisconsin's offensive line is loaded with experience which gives the unit the opportunity to keep the ball moving on the ground.

Senior right guard Kraig Urbik and left guard Andy Kemp join senior right tackle Eric Vanden Heuvel to anchor the line. Sophomores John Moffit (center) and left tackle Gabe Carimi(tackle)round out the offensive line which have been a strength for the Badgers this year. 6-foot-7, 328 pound redshirt freshman Josh Oglesby has also filled in at left tackle for Carimi this year due to a knee injury.

Eric Vandenheuvel (right tackle), Kraig Urbik (right guard) and Andy Kemp (left guard) have a total of 110 starts and over 970 pounds among them. In addition, they've been to three bowl games.

Badger sophomore center John Moffitt is 6-foot-4 and 323 pounds, but he is agile and moves well, with some innate toughness. "I just like how you hit certain blocks, how you have to move," he said. "Maybe it just fits my body type more, the way I move."

Moffitt started the final six games last season at guard due to injuries and this year has played at the center position. Moffitt has senior guards on either side of him, Andy Kemp to his left and Kraig Urbik to his right, who help him and call out the things they see.

Bobby Bowden has talked about the Badgers being beefy and the offensive line definitely fits that term. The starting offensive line for Wisconsin averages 319 pounds compared to the Noles' offensive line that averages 281 pounds.

The Badger offensive line has allowed the running game to be ranked #1 in the conference averaging 212 yards a game and 31 TDs. The line has also been solid in not allowing a lot of sacks and are ranked #4 allowing only 22 sacks on the season and averaging 1.83 sacks a game. The Badgers rank #2 in the conference in allowing tackles for a loss. On third down conversions, the Badgers rank #5 in the conference.

Wisconsin offensive line depth chart:

Left Tackle
68 Gabe Carimi, 6-8, 301, So.
67 Josh Oglesby, 6-7, 328, Fr.

Left Guard
75 Andy Kemp, 6-6, 315, Sr.
70 Kevin Zeitler, 6-4, 285, Fr.

Center
74 John Moffi tt, 6-4, 323, So.
60 Jake Current, 6-4, 278, Fr.

Right Guard
63 Kraig Urbik, 6-6, 332, Sr.
76 Bill Nagy, 6-4, 300, So.

Right Tackle
71 Eric Vanden Heuvel, 6-7, 324, Sr.
78 Jake Bscherer, 6-7, 294, Jr.