Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/80354
SEASON KICKOFF: OFFENSIVE LINE mood turns on a dime, going from jovial to bloodthirsty in the blink of an eye. "I'm trying to get the guy on the ground every day, especially on the run block," said Watt, whose teammates call him "JuggerWatt." Stealing a line from the Dos Equis beer commercial, Cave says Watt, who will suddenly beat on his own helmet during practice, is "the most interesting man in the world." Golic agrees. "I can't express enough how much I love Watt," Golic said. "Watty is a great kid. On the one hand you have this big offensive lineman who's an absolute road grader. You won't have anyone tell you otherwise. Watty is an abso- lute butt kicker. Off the field he's a well-read guy. I'll talk to him about Kurt Vonnegut. He is definitely a personality we can all rally around." Both Martin and Watt say the other is responsible for their dirty dwelling, but the longtime roommates comple- ment each other well in the trench. "My freshman year Zack and I were together on the right side of the line, and we both got switched to the left side of the line," Watt said. "He started that year. It's been great playing next to him. He's a great player. He's really good at communicating, which is really important on the offensive line. It's important for us to get our calls. It helps me out; it bails me out a few times as well. That's really important as a whole group." The entire line playing as one has been a primary focus this fall. An example of that togetherness came on the first day of camp, when the offensive linemen were ready to run out to the practice field, but waited outside the gate for freshman Ronnie Stanley to arrive. "Coach Hiestand is big into the unit and unity," Martin explained. "We're always doing stuff together. We're not allowed to run out onto the field or go to any drill without the entire offensive line. The offensive line is the tightest group on the field, and that's just trying to demonstrate that. "We have different techniques with our new offensive line coach, but the plays and are similar … There are a few new protections here and there." Martin discussed the differences between previous line coaches and Hiestand, who — along with leading the front five — will coordinate the running game in 2012. "In the run game, it's getting up into the defensive line," he said. "This is more of hitting them and just running — getting underneath them and sprinting as fast as you can. "In pass protection we use our hands a lot more. We weren't great at using our hands last season. We did a lot of catching [the defender]. This is more of keeping them off your body and punching as hard as you can. It's a lot different than the way we've gone over the last two years." The Fighting Irish will turn to more of a zone-blocking scheme under Hiestand, who also relies heavily on gap protections. Over on the defensive line, assistant coach Mike Elston has a front-row seat to watch the effectiveness of the of- fensive line. The intersquad battles are sharpening both sides of the line, said Elston, who's confident his group won't see a better unit this season than the one it faces every single day. www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Martin has not missed a game since taking over the starting left tackle job two years ago. The Irish coaching staff calls him the top lineman on the ros- ter and as good as any the Notre Dame defense will face this year. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA PRESEASON 2012 47