Pressure's on the line

EAST LANSING - Everyone with notebooks and cameras was crowded between the two full-length practice fields Tuesday, watching Kirk Cousins, or Keith Nichol, or Greg Jones, or the 58 running backs who will split carries this season.

The rock stars.

Tucked away in their own dark little corner next to the Duffy Daugherty Football Building were the guys who rarely get attention unless they screw up. Toiling in the sweltering heat, doing the heavy lifting, pushing each other around as much as a shorts-and-helmets workout will allow.

The roadies.

That's what offensive linemen are to most fans - at least to the fans who aren't wearing the concert T-shirt and reciting all the lyrics. Most people only see Javon Ringer breaking through a hole, not the pulling guard who created it.

But they see the left tackle giving up the sack. They see the amp blow up.

As camp gets under way and the Sept. 5 season opener moves closer, here's a tip regarding your 2009 Michigan State Spartans: Watch the offensive line. It will have as much to say as anything about this season's outcome.

The quarterbacks and running backs are getting all the attention as expected, but it's safe to say MSU has plenty of talent at both spots. The specialists are strong and the defense is going to be good - especially if it finds more pass rushers.

The offensive line? Potential is there. Improvement is needed.

And it's true, offensive lines are always important, but they're a lot more important when new quarterbacks and running backs are operating behind them. This MSU line needs to help the new headliners - whoever they are - gain some early confidence and crank up their talents.

Just as Ringer helped a rebuilt line come along a year ago.

"We were a solid offensive line (last season), given that we had an outstanding tailback in the backfield," MSU senior left tackle Rocco Cironi said. "But sometimes he did our work for us."

On an island

Before Tuesday's practice, MSU had its annual media day, and the round tables occupied by Cousins and Nichol were packed.

The five offensive linemen invited to the bash sat mostly alone for 45 minutes, allowing for easy access and unlimited questioning.

All had roughly the same take on last season: They were decent except against the elite opponents, blowout losses to Ohio State and Penn State and the competitive Capital One Bowl loss to Georgia.

"Mistakes happen. But you've got to be able to play in the big games, and we didn't do that," said sophomore Joel Foreman, who learned on the fly as a starting redshirt freshman in 2008. "You've got to be able to come through."

Ringer had a great season, rushing for 1,637 yards, yet MSU finished ninth in the Big Ten in rushing offense. The Spartans' 3.3 yards a carry was 10th, besting only Minnesota's 3.1 average.

Poor health didn't help. Cironi played all year with a bum shoulder after tearing his labrum in fall camp. He had offseason surgery and is fine now. Also, right tackle Jesse Miller was hobbling and allowing a lot of quarterback access in the last month of the season.

Against the big boys, the entire unit looked overmatched for stretches.

"I think our lack of running game in those games certainly became an issue from an offensive perspective," line coach Dan Roushar said. "So when you get in a big game, at the end of the day, what do you do? You've got to be good enough."

Shell game

Now Roushar must find replacements for Miller at right tackle and Roland Martin at right guard. He said his returnees - Cironi, Foreman and senior center Joel Nitchman - all appear to be better football players and should make for a good left side.

Five players have a real chance to start on the right side, Roushar said, with Jared McGaha and Chris McDonald working at guard, Brendon Moss and D.J. Young working at tackle, and J'Michael Deane working at both.

Deane, who is limited right now by a tender Achilles, was the No. 1 right tackle during spring ball, but his run-blocking prowess prompted Roushar to try him at guard. It sounds like he has a good chance to start at one of the two.

"J'Mike can come off the ball and hit people like no one I've ever seen," Foreman said.

Moss is a fifth-year senior with some experience, but Young has opened eyes with his pass-blocking ability. The former Sexton standout transferred from Bowling Green, has walked on at MSU and is making a real push to start right away.

It's quite a story. It isn't necessarily the sign of an elite offensive line.

Roushar has a lot of young talent at his disposal, including some impressive-looking freshmen. But it usually takes three or four years to get a lineman ready to start in the Big Ten, and this is just year three of the Mark Dantonio regime.

The offensive line is the biggest reminder of that fact.

"We're a work in progress," Roushar said. "It's maybe difficult to articulate the process."

But it's easy to see where 2009 hinges. And if the new stars shine and the show draws raves, give some credit to the guys who set up the stage - even if you don't watch them do it.