Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi praised his offensive line play from the scrimmage over the weekend. He said the offense was able to run the ball against the first-team defense, which is not always an easy task. Narduzzi gave individual recognition to a number of different players, including senior offensive linemen Owen Drexel and Gabe Houy.

Drexel has been with the program since the 2017 season. He’s seen limited game action and only has one start under his belt in his career. In fairness, Drexel was stuck behind a pretty good player in former Pitt center and current Las Vegas Raider, Jimmy Morrissey.

Houy has also been with the team since 2017, and was a starter at right tackle for eight games a season ago, and looks like he will win that job once again entering the 2021 season despite a fierce competition for the starting role.

The offensive line is taking shape in camp, but the real test for this group will come once the games start to count. The Pitt offensive line has struggled in the past two seasons to establish a running game, which has hurt the team in the red zone and has not given much help to Kenny Pickett and the passing game.

The talk among the returning linemen is that they will be better in 2021.

“I think just our size and physicality,” Houy said as reasons he believes the line can be better this season. “I think having an offseason was beneficial. Last season we didn’t have an offseason and we weren’t in the best situations last year, but I think this year our bodies are a different level and I think our confidence is at a different level and that allows us to do really well this year.”

Of course Houy is referring to last year where all of college football was limited in what teams could do in the offseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The offensive line is a group that works together on every single play, and not having that cohesion formed early on was something that was lacking once the season started. Like many schools, Pitt tried to adapt by working and meeting over Zoom, but Drexel sees a difference this year in having that actual in-person preparation for a full offseason.

“We’re a pretty veteran group, so I feel like that in general just helps us bring us along more, and also just seeing it in-person that always helps more and getting on the field and doing walk-throughs as opposed to just looking at a chalkboard on Zoom,” the senior center said.

It is noticeable that the Pitt offensive linemen are a tight-knit group. Drexel and Houy are roommates along with fellow senior linemen Carter Warren. They are often seen moving around as a group both on and off the field.

“I think it’s definitely because we have to work in unison in order to be successful,” Houy said of why the linemen are so close. “If we don’t work together and one guy misses a block than the play doesn’t work. So when we all work together, it works. So that drives us to be closer.”

Pitt also returns veteran Jake Kradel at right guard, and the team welcomes in Marcus Minor, an experienced transfer from Maryland that is looking to be the left guard. Reserves Matt Goncalves and Blake Zubovic appear to be the next guys in line coming off of the bench and have continued to make strong pushes for starting jobs. Despite only having one career start under his belt, Drexel has assumed a leadership role over this group that is full of veterans.

“He’s doing really well,” Houy said of Pitt’s center. “He picked off right where Jimmy left off and he’s basically a veteran. He knows all the calls and everything and knows every scheme, so I think he’s doing really well.”

Drexel served as an understudy to an All-ACC center for the past four seasons. He believes he was able to take some things away from Morrissey, a close friend he said he can still turn to if he has a question.

“Learning from Jimmy in the past couple of years, being the guy with the ball is really important and being the leader,” Drexel said of taking on a leadership role. “So I really pride myself on trying to be that guy.”

Pitt has a lot to prove on the offensive side of the ball this season, and a lot of it starts with the offensive line. The unit will look to improve a rushing attack that finished 111th nationally from a season ago. Pitt had its best rushing game of the year in the season finale against Georgia Tech when Vincent Davis rushed for 247 yards. There is also the emergence this offseason of promising second-year player Israel Abanikanda in the backfield as well.

The offensive line is anxious to show people that this can be an improved offense in 2021.

“I mean we’ve got some great backs,” Drexel said. “We’re a physical bunch and we like moving people and we’re excited to do it some more.”