Interim head football coach Chris Smithley knows that the team’s offensive production begins with one thing: his offensive line.

“That’s where it starts—it starts up front,” Smithley said. “If they play well, the whole offense is going to play well. Because if you’re running the ball well, now you’re opening up the play-action pass, you’re keeping your quarterback off the ground and he’s feeling confident. I think 100 percent of the success that we have as a whole offense would be based off our offensive line play.”

In the first game of the season against Muskingum, a 19-0 defeat, the Waynesburg offense struggled in multiple aspects with a total accumulation of 113 yards. The run game was nearly non-existent, gaining just 18 yards on 34 carries.

Week two, however, was a different story in terms of the run game. While still accumulating fewer than 200 yards of offense, sophomore running back Jarves Crews carried the ball 17 times for 77 yards. The offensive line as a group from week one to week two, Smithley said, has taken key steps to helping open the offense up more.

“We are making those improvements across the board,” Smithley said. “I think that everybody says that you make the most improvements as a team between Week One and Week Two. I don’t think there’s any doubt that our offensive line has made those strides. We still have a long way to go. I think there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but we’re going to continue to do our best job as a coaching staff to bring these guys along and put them in situations where they can be successful.”

As the run game for the Yellow Jacket offense starts to hit its stride, Smithley feels that sophomore quarterback Tyler Perone will improve his game with better decision-making on how to set his linemen—something Smithley also thinks he can help out with more.

“In our offense, the quarterback sets the protection,” said Smithley. “The reason he sets the protection is so that he knows where he’s going to get hit from. He knows that if he wants to protect his backside and see it coming from his front side—he’s in full control of that…That’s more on me to prepare him better into making some better decisions on setting the protection.”

The starting offensive line features three seniors in Nick White at right tackle, Hunter Six at right guard and JT Colosimo at left guard, while the left tackle and center positions are manned by sophomores Alex Paulina and Cody Edwards, respectively. While these guys have seen a majority of the work through two games, there are other players that Smithley feels have been solid thus far and will continue to make an impact for the line down the stretch.

“[Sophomore] Tanner Six is a guy that you’ve seen a little bit of up to this point. He’s a guy that will start rotating a little bit more,” Smithley said. “Eric McDowell is a freshman. He’s a guy that works his butt off, keeps his head down and just is grinding. He’s a guy that has a lot of potential to be a regular rotator in our five.”

As the Yellow Jackets prepare to host Carnegie Mellon this coming Saturday, Smithley’s goal for the team remains clear, and it starts with the five men up front on the offensive line.

“Just continuing to take the next step in running the football is really a major goal of ours. We’re not going to quit,” Smithley said. “We’ve made a 100 percent commitment to get that run-game going, and whatever it takes we’re going to work through this until we get that thing right.”