Colgate Raider Report Podcast

HAMILTON – This is the sixth of a series of recaps from Colgate Football's recent spring practice. Today's topic is the offensive line.

Starters Returning: OT Jovaun Woolford (2017 All-Patriot League First Team), OG Jack Badovinac (All-Patriot League First Team), OT Charlie Holsopple (All-Patriot League Second Team), OT Jayvion Queen (Hero Sports Freshman All-America).

Starters Lost: OG Scott Hirshman (All-ECAC First Team), C Max Hartzman (All-Patriot League First Team).

Noteworthy: Queen's Freshman All-America selection made it five offensive line starters out of five last year to win some type of postseason honor. Add in Woolford, who missed the rest of the season after being injured in the opener, and that's four returning starters – all carrying impressive credentials.

Coach Dan Hunt's Comments:

"Without putting too much hype or pressure on them, I can honestly say this is probably the deepest and most talented group we've had since I've been here. We've had some great offensive lines, but this group from top to bottom is filled with players who can do everything we need the offensive line to do.
 
"He didn't practice this spring, but in the fall we get Jovaun Woolford back. He was having NFL teams look at him last year and he returns to a senior leadership role.
 
But when I look at the guys who were active in the spring, it starts with Jack Badovinac. He's another one who plays older than he is and he just completed his sophomore season. Jack exemplifies what we look for in a Colgate offensive lineman. He's not the tallest guy in the world – we don't care about that – he just plays with great coil. He can unspring and win a block. He plays every play hard, he's a physical run blocker, he's a physical pass blocker and he knows what he's doing.
 
"He's good in space, he can pull and he's starting to really establish himself as a leader on the offense.
 
"Jayvion Queen as a freshman started 11 out of 12 games last season at left tackle, which is unprecedented. Because of his athletic ability, this spring we wanted to immerse him in the world of guard. He was playing guard for us and tackle and really showed that he could handle it. He told me at the end of spring that he had a better appreciation for both positions now that he knows what everyone is doing. He's going to become a better player for that.
 
"Being a freshman last year and going up against the likes of James Madison, Army and North Dakota State, he's going to play a lot of football for us. If linemen had stats, he very easily could have been Patriot League Rookie of the Year last year.
 
"Charlie Holsopple was our starting right tackle all of last year, and he played like it. One of the nice things about our tackles is they get to go up against Nick Wheeler every day, which makes you better. Charlie certainly did that every day this spring and you could see his confidence growing. He's starting to play like a guy who has started a year for us.
 
"It's funny. Going into last year, he was the new starter who we were going to have to keep our eye on. But then after one game, we suddenly had a freshman in there so we stopped watching Chaz. He's ready to take that next step to becoming a dominant tackle. He had a good solid spring and he's starting to emerge as a leader, which is really impressive.
 
"Sam Diehl took over at center for us, which is exactly what we needed. We lost Max and we needed to find out who was going to step up. I'll be honest, he was a question mark for me coming into spring because I didn't know what we were going to get. He leaves as an exclamation point. He did a great job.
 
"Snaps were right on every time but he really showed that he has a great grasp of our offense. Mentally, he was really good. Physically, he plays very similarly to Jack in that he's aggressive, he's going to get on you and he's going to finish you. So these 15 practices for him were great because he just gained so much experience and really showed that he's going to be able to hold down that center position. We're not going to miss a beat there.
 
"Then I want to talk about the other freshmen we have who are going into their sophomore seasons.
 
"Shiva Puttagunta really stood out this spring. He is the most aggressive lineman we have. If there's a definition of runner and hitter on the offensive line, that's Shiva. He loves to pull and get in space, and he's going to bring it and try to finish you. He reminds me of a guy we had named Richie Rosabella (2004-07), who was an unbelievable guard for us.
 
"With Shiva, it used to be we hoped he went in the right direction and hit somebody. Now he's really starting to grasp our offense. Once he really masters the playbook, I don't know how we will keep that guy off the field. He really brings the attitude that we like at Colgate and gets after you. Our guys like running behind him because he's moving fast and he has some bad intentions when he gets there.
 
"And then Michael Griggs. Mike played primarily center for us last year as a freshman. We moved him to some guard this spring and he felt comfortable, and when we moved him back to center he did a much better job. He's another who has all the tools, is strong, physical and is only a freshman.
 
"To watch these young guys start to play with a little bit better grasp of our offense, now you can really what they're made of. Offensive line is one of those positions where if you don't know what you're doing mentally, you really can't show everything can do physically. Some of the freshmen in your program, you don't know because they don't know what they're doing. Now when you get to spring ball, they know what they're doing and they can cut loose and play.
 
"Griggsie was really impressive and I can't wait to watch him.
 
"Same situation with Ben Bohnenberger. He was trending toward playing a lot last year and then he got an injury right at the end of camp that really slowed him down. We very easily could be saying that Bohnenberger played all of last year.
 
"You could tell Ben was comfortable with the offense by the end of spring and just showed some great ability. He's physical, can run and is a big guy.
 
"Louie Berkowitz, unfortunately, got an injury and is probably going to end up coaching this fall with us. That will lend to his strengths – he's a leader and we're going to tap into that. We've done that before and we have some who are back here coaching with us now.
 
"Will Varble is back for his senior year. He played a bunch this spring at tackle for us and is trending in a good direction toward being able to give us some depth at that position.
 
"Alex Sargiss and Hunter Dauparas also are providing depth. Hunter was out all last season with a shoulder injury, so this was his first time playing with us, and then he got another little injury during spring. They certainly showed some potential.
 
"When I met with the line, I told them there were more than five starters on that list. Only five are going to start, which means it will be competition every day to play, and it also gives us great depth. This is the deepest we've been at this position, which really I'm excited about. I'm excited about our offensive line group. It's going to make us go.
 
"When we've been good, we've been good there and they've been the culture and the leaders. They are up to that challenge and I can't wait to see what they do."