Interior line gets bigger, stronger

By now it’s an old hat for redshirt senior Adam Pankey.

The versatile lineman has spent his career bouncing out and then back in on the left side of the West Virginia offensive line but it’s something that actually had its roots even before then.

“I started out at tackle, towards my senior year in high school I played guard and was pulling and stuff,” Pankey said. “I always like to get in there and get to go downhill at guys and get in a three-point stance.”

Pankey has spent basically entire seasons at both left guard and left tackle during his time at West Virginia but the most recent move was sliding him back inside for the Oklahoma game. It’s a situation the coaches had prepared Pankey for by giving him reps at least one practice a week at both tackle and guard in case he was needed to make the switch again.

“It’s tough but he spent a full year at left guard, close to two years at left tackle. It’s stuff he’s done before,” offensive line coach Ron Crook said.

So the Mountaineers bumped redshirt junior Marcell Lazard to left tackle while keeping redshirt freshman Colton McKivitz on the right side and inserted Pankey at left guard. Both redshirt senior Tyler Orlosky and redshirt junior Kyle Bosch remained at their center and right guard spots.

And the switch paid off as the Mountaineers effectively rushed the football and junior running back Justin Crawford was able to pile up 331-yards rushing against the Sooners.

It was a move done not only because the coaching staff wanted more strength to combat the Sooners physical defensive front but also because of injuries to a pair of guards on the roster. But the success impressed the coaches enough that they plan to stick with it against Iowa State.

“We just felt it was out healthiest lineup and having Adam inside gave us more power and strength up the middle,” Crook said.

Making things easier is the success that McKivitz has had being able to handle playing both sides of the offensive line when asked to do it.

“There aren’t many people doing that as a redshirt freshman,” head coach Dana Holgorsen said.

Like Oklahoma, the Cyclones are strong up the middle with senior nose guard Demond Tucker, who has recorded 41 tackles and four tackles for loss. Iowa State also relies on stunts and various pressures to make things difficult for opposing offenses.

“Their nose guard is something now. I don’t know what his measurable are but he’s in the backfield all the time,” Holgorsen said.

Because both injured guards are now on the end and expected to play against the Cyclones, it gives the Mountaineers some options that they didn’t have a week ago. Both redshirt senior Tony Matteo and redshirt junior Grant Lingafelter could complicate things even further.

By that I mean you could see Pankey once again on the outside at tackle in certain situations are the offensive line goes through their rotations throughout the game.

But like I said, old hat.

“I’m used to it,” Pankey said.