Elflein Comfortable Wherever He Winds Up on Offensive Line

By Tim Shoemaker on October 2, 2014 at 8:35 am
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Before stepping foot on Ohio State's campus three years ago, Pat Elflein had never played center in his life. Not in grade school. Not even in high school.

But in Saturday's 50-28 win against Cincinnati, the redshirt sophomore spent some time in the middle of the Buckeyes' offensive line, snapping the ball to redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett.

Elflein is Ohio State's starting right guard, but he's also listed as the team's backup center behind Jacoby Boren. And with second-stringers Chase Farris and Joel Hale earning playing time with the starters, there has been some shuffling up front as guys fight for permanent spots on the line.

“It was (difficult) at first but I’ve been practicing it so much in practice that it wasn’t that big of an adjustment," Elflein said after Wednesday's practice. "I was comfortable doing it and I was fine. I’ll do it whenever if need be so I’m ready to play center whenever.”

Having versatility is important, especially on the offensive line, but it's even more critical for an inexperienced group like this year's.

The Buckeyes had to replace four starters from last season's line. And while Elflein saw playing time at the end of last year, left tackle Taylor Decker was the only returning starter.

Ohio State's lack of experience showed early on, too. After a shaky first half in the season-opener against Navy, the Buckeyes looked lost up front in a Week 2 loss to Virginia Tech, allowing seven sacks.

But since that sub-par performance, the offensive line has looked much improved.

“We never really lacked confidence, that’s just the standard that the offensive line at Ohio State plays," Elflein said. "We played to that standard on Saturday and we’re gonna keep playing to that standard. The standard was set last year and that’s just how we have to play.”

To Elflein, it doesn't really matter what position he plays, though. He says he feels more at home playing guard because that is where he's practiced the most, but when and if he's asked to move to center during a game, he will be ready.

“I always have that center mentality in the back of my head in case I need to pull it out and perform at center," he said. "It’s a little adjustment because your assignments change a little bit and your technique changes so you just have to be ready for it and that’s what getting reps at practice helps you do.”

The Buckeyes appear to have improved up front, but they will certainly get a challenge Saturday against Maryland. It will be Ohio State's first true road game of the season (Navy was at a neutral site) and Terrapins head coach Randy Edsall said he is expecting a sellout crowd at Byrd Stadium for Maryland's first-ever Big Ten home game.

Ohio State's offense racked up 710 yards of total offense and a school-record 45 first downs against Cincinnati. While those numbers aren't likely to be duplicated against the Terrapins, the offense's success could depend heavily on the play of Elflein and the offensive line.

“Communication is key. Depending on what defense they’re running, you have to communicate that because that’s the very first thing to a play is communicating what front it is," Elflein said. "We’re on the road, it’s a big game so we’ll definitely have to communicate if we want to get our job done which we will."

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