Coastal Carolina was faced with a bout of déjà vu with almost every Penn State running play Saturday afternoon.
Center A.Q. Shipley would snap the ball, one of the Nittany Lions' four running backs would take the handoff and wouldn't be touched for six or seven yards.
The Penn State offensive line would get such a surge off the snap that many of the linemen were getting to the Chanticleer linebackers, taking them totally out of the play.
But the wide bodies didn't shine only in the run game.
As quarterbacks Daryll Clark and Pat Devlin left the field, their jerseys were oddly clean. The Lion passers were barely touched, let alone pressured, a testament to the talent of the line.
"Geez, they were unreal," Devlin said of the line. "We could have run the ball all game. I don't think we had to pass at all. They just kept pounding away and kept working hard."
The line's dominance was in plain view all game long, but it was even more evident on the stat sheet.
Forty-three carries, 334 yards, seven touchdowns and a 7.8-yard per carry average on the ground. No sacks in the passing game.
But for the guys actually throwing the blocks and paving the way for the backs, it's not about the numbers.
"For us, our job is just to get in peoples' way and make those guys look good," guard Rich Ohrenberger said. "They made us look good putting up numbers like that. It's tons of pride from the job we did today."
But it took lots of work in the offseason to earn that pride. Shipley said the line has really jelled as a unit this year, which has made its job easier.
All the guys are great friends off the field, Shipley said. They eat together, play video games together and spend most of their free time together. It's that bond, he said, that has led to the line's success.
"It's way better than last year," he said. "Last year we were trying to work things out and trying to get our bearings right. This year we're all great friends on and off the field. We're just able to work well on the field.
"Through the spring, all summer, preseason camp we didn't miss a beat. It's great."
Having such a veteran group -- three seniors, one junior and one sophomore -- adds to the line's cohesion and play. It also helps in practice because everybody on the line knows what his linemates are doing on every play.
It also helps calm the rest of the team in tough-game situations.
Senior wide receiver Jordan Norwood came into Penn State with Cadogan, Shipley and Ohrnberger. Having gone through countless practices and games with the same line allows the rest of the offense to know the line will do its job on every play.
"It's another senior-laden position we have," Norwood said, "and it's been great watching them come along, grow up with us. We're all seniors, and we walk into the huddle, and it's the same faces we've seen for a while now."
But one of the best compliments a line can receive comes from the men they line up against on a daily basis.
Linebacker Tyrell Sales has been battling this group of linemen for two years now, and said it's tough breaking through that wall to get to ball carriers.
Considering he sees them every day in practice, Sales said he's never surprised with what the offense can do, especially when it comes to running behind the veteran line.
"They have that kind of capability with our offensive line coming back. We can run the ball against anybody," Sales said.
"I won't be surprised when we come out there in the Big Ten and we put up 40, 45 points. It's never a surprise because we're that explosive as an offense."
