Photo Gallery Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham University head football coach
Joe Moorhead has told his team that "at this level, championships are won by the offensive and defensive lines." So we continue our position-by-position breakdown of the 2015 Rams by taking a look at the offensive line.
The Rams lost three starters from 2014, including All-American
Mason Halter and All-Patriot League performers Joe Mizera and
Matt Stolte, who helped the team rush for a school-record 2,353 yards, shattering the former mark of 2,162 set in 2013, and score a school-record 569 points, surpassing the 2013 record of 526. The 2014 Rams also led the Patriot League in passing offense, total offense and scoring offense while on the national level the Rams ranked fourth in passing offense (326.1 yards/game) in the NCAA FCS and ranked among the top ten in scoring offense (40.6 points/game – fifth), team passing efficiency (156.23 – third), total offense (494.1 yards/game – seventh) and first downs (331 - ninth).
The good news is that Fordham returns two starters to the line in senior
Garrick Mayweather, Jr., who started all 14 games at left guard last fall, and sophomore
Anthony Coyle, who appeared in all 14 games as a freshman, starting the final ten at right tackle.
Others with experience who return to the offensive line include juniors Zach Johnson, who saw action in nine games last year;
Sam Marlin, who played in eight games as a sophomore;
Erik McCauley, who appeared in three games in 2014;
Jack Treanor, and
Kyle Vaughn, who started first four games of season at right tackle as a sophomore before suffering season-ending injury, and sophomores
Garrett Donaldson, who saw action in four games last year; and
Ben Hartman, who looks to take over at center for Mizera after playing in six games as a sophomore.
Junior College transfer
John Boyd, who transferred to Fordham after two years at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California, where he was named to the Rivals.com National preseason Watch List for junior college players in 2014, looks to move into the starting lineup for Fordham in 2015.
Freshmen
Doniel Kennedy, a graduate of Byron Steele II High School in Cibolo, Texas, where he notched 61 knockdown blocks in 2013;
Dominic Lombard, a product of William Fremd High School in Palatine, Illinois, where he was a 2014 First Team All-Northwest selection;
Charlie Murray, an All-Area selection at Loyola Academy in 2014; and
Tristan Nevotne, a
Chicago Sun-Times Top 100 player at Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois.
Here are some notes from camp today:
The Rams have started playing music during the eleven-on-eleven drills to simulate crowd noise they will encounter at Army.
Today's session was practice number 15 of camp.
The Winning Edge point was a winner-take-all third down and five call with the defense taking the point as they forced an incomplete pass.
Coach Moorhead's quote of the day:
"Don't let good be the enemy of great."
