BC football notebook: Offensive line has kept QBs safe
| Tuesday, Nov 03 2009 08:46 PM
Last Updated Tuesday, Nov 03 2009 09:23 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian BC quarterback Logan Kilgore throws during the game Saturday against Ventura College.
One of the most startling aspects of Bakersfield College football this season is the great protection for Logan Kilgore.
BC quarterbacks Kilgore and Lyle Negron have only been sacked five times in nine games, none in the last five.
Kilgore has been pressured but has been able to get passes away or scrambled for yards to avoid adding to the sack total.
"It's the kids: working hard and believing in what they're doing," offensive coordinator Carl Dean said. "We put together a chart with the blitzes we see every week and the kids study the film."
Dean added: "Our offensive line takes a lot of pride in protecting the quarterback. ... They're pretty proud of that stat."
Giving Kilgore time makes the passing game more consistent, which also helps the running game, Dean said.
"It all stems from the protection," he said. "The games are won up front. Whether it's run or pass, without the line, we're not going to be successful."
The Renegades are idle on Saturday.
BC concludes the regular season a week from Saturday at College of the Canyons.
"Yeah, we're happy to have the bye because we're beat up," Chudy said. "But more than the physical wear and tear is the mental strain of being in a routine for everyone in the program, from players to the coaches to the support staff. Everyone's been at it for almost three months non-stop."
The players will only have on-field practices today and Thursday this week. They'll have the weekend off, then report for practice on Monday -- normally a day off when the team plays on Saturdays.
Chudy said he would prefer the bye week to fall close to the middle of the season, but the odd number of teams in BC's league, the Northern National Conference, means an NNC team has a bye each week of the league season.
"In a perfect world, the byes are in Week 6 like they used to be," Chudy said. "That gives everyone a chance to re-fill your batteries for the second half of the season."
Many of the coaches won't have the weekend off. Chudy said he and others on his staff plan on attending Saturday's Canyons at Pasadena game.
The Renegades' 44-14 demolition of what had been a 6-1 Ventura team did not impress the pollsters who compile the Southern California rankings each week.
BC (8-1) remained No. 4 while Fullerton moved from No. 5 to No. 3 after a 20-17 win over Palomar, which was No. 6 last week.
El Camino, which has been No. 1 all season, was beaten for the first time this season, a 42-26 loss to Mount San Antonio (7-1), which is now No. 2. El Camino, which handed BC its only loss on Sept, 26, fell to No. 5 in the poll.
Cerritos (8-0), one of only two unbeaten teams in the state, is now No. 1 in the South.
If Cerritos is going to stay there, it's going to earn it. Cerritos is at Mount SAC on Saturday and concludes the regular season by facing El Camino.
BC has a bye this week and closes the regular season a week from Saturday at 5-3 Canyons. BC needs to win that game to ensure an outright Northern National Conference title and a first-round home playoff game (which will be the Golden Empire Bowl).
Quarterback Logan Kilgore has 1,818 passing yards this season, which is No. 5 all-time on BC's single-season list. He is on pace to be only the third BC quarterback to reach 2,000 yards in a season.
Wide receiver Rishard Matthews' 40 catches is ninth all-time at BC for a single-season. He's got a chance to become only the fourth receiver in BC history with 50 catches in a season.
And running back Ben Estill has 1,230 career rushing yards, No. 16 on BC's all-time list.
