Thanks, that will be very interesting. I will look at stats from both Ohio and U.Mass, where Ohio's new line coach coached last year.

AdjLYards - This attempts to separate gains caused by the line from gains caused by the backs. Gains of 0-4 yards are the responsibility of the line. Gains 4-10 yards are on both the line and the back. Gains of over 10 are credited to the back. Losses are extra blame on the line. This stat is also adjusted for the strength of the foe. Ohio ranked 114th in this measure. UMass was dead last in the country, at 126th.

Std Downs - This the gain on a normal rushing down - first down, 2d and 6, 3d and 4, etc. Ohio did better here, at 2.8 yards, good for 83rd. U.Mass again was very near the bottom at 2.49 yards, for 119th.

Passing Downs - This is the gain in normal passing situations, such as 2d and 7, 3d or 4th and 5+. Ohio averaged 2.5 yards, 117th in the country. U.Mass was at 2.53 yards, good for 115th.

Opportunity rate - the percentage of times that the line "does it's job" and allows the runner to gain at least 5 yards. Ohio's line succeeded 34.9% of the time, good for 109th. U.Mass was successful 33.9%, for 112th.

Power success rate - Pct of times run succeeds at 3rd and 2 or 4th and 2 or less. Ohio succeeded 52.8% of the time, good for 119th in the country. U.Mass did pretty well at this, at 73.7%, good for 36th.

Stuff rate - pct of time lose yards - Ohio did pretty well here, at 18.7%, good for 58th. U.Mass was 21.7%, for 102d. I personally credit Ohio's running backs in part for the few losses.

Adj sack rate - sack rate adjusted for opponents - Ohio, with a mobile and experienced QB, still did poorly here, and finished 114th. U.Mass was exceptional here, at 17th.

       AdjL   StdD  PassD  OppRt PowerSuc Stuff Sacks  Avg
BG       59    25     13     12     86      57   114    52
Kent     99    62     33    105     71      37    14    60
Buffalo 117   100     81     86    101      92    46    89
UMass   126   119    115    112     36     102    17    90
Akron   124   115     89     91     88     114    43    94
Ohio    114    83    117    109    119      58   114   102
Miami   119   107     91    118    107      80   126   107

NIU       9     3      5      3     39       4     3     9
Toledo   18     8      1     10     28       6     4    11
BalSt    87    21     68     63    123      53     7    60
EMU      85    18     86     75     65      54    98    69
WMU     116    85     92     91     99      99    21    86
CMU     123    89     75    113    105     112   104   103

On the whole, with the exception of NIU and Toledo, the offensive lines in the MAC were not good last year. Unfortunately, even among a bad lot, Ohio's was one of the worst. They did OK on standard running downs, (presumably because they caught the defenses off guard by running Beau up the middle), and Beau/Boykin weren't tackled for losses often, but other than that, they were near the bottom in every measure. U.Mass's lines were also not great, although they didn't give up a lot of sacks, and they did well in short yardage situations.

Let's hope with a new year, the line is a lot better in 2014.

Gosh, I'm even an accountant who loves numbers but this seems a bit much.  All you had to do was watch our line play vs the best teams in the league last year and you know how bad both lines really were.

Well, the numbers confirmed that the offensive line was really as bad as I thought. It also confirmed that the defense had some issued, but how much of it was a youth issue and how much was a strategy issue it difficult to know.  All I know for sure is that if Ohio is going to do as well as we'd like, there is going to need to be a major improvement in both lines.

The numbers also make painfully clear that when the line isn't making holes, there isn't much that can be done from a play-calling standpoint. If you don't have the power to make the down in short-yardage situations, and you're getting stuffed a lot in all situations, it's going to be difficult to get any long drives, which is what we saw.