As senior tailback Rob Belli, pigskin tucked into his midsection, barreled through a gaping hole created by his offensive linemen and smashed himself three more yards for a first down to officially defeat the Fairfield Stags last Saturday, it just affirmed his greatness as a Hoya tailback.

But perhaps greatness was realized in the blistering cold on top of Kehoe Field last Saturday. It was a defining play in the careers of eight seniors, friends since the beginning of college. Three of them live together, but all of them play alongside one another on Georgetown’s offensive line.

“These guys are the strength of our team, and have been for the past three years,” said Head Coach Bob Benson, “because as other guys have come and gone over the past three years, they have always been here. In all of Ivy and Patriot League football, you are not going to find a better offensive line than ours.”

The path to greatness often does not follow as one might expect. This is just one of those stories.

Benson realized their greatness four years ago. As he beganto settle into his role as head coach of Georgetown football, he was faced with the major challenge of overhauling his offensive line.

“The biggest part of recruitment is planned replacement,” said Benson this week, “so you have to look at what you are losing and what you need to replace. At that point, we were going to be weak around the offensive line area. The offensive line is the cornerstone of any good football team, because in order to play competitive football, you need a two-pronged attack: rushing and passing. Without a good offensive line, neither can be accomplished.

“So we brought in these eight guys, and they have been extraordinary since they got here. They are quality, quality young men who excel on the field and in the classroom.”

All eight recruits have contributed positively to the Hoyas’ gridiron success, but in different roles. Benson platoons the pivotal left tackle position between Lenihan and de La Hoz, and plays Ben Tortolani across the line at right tackle. The center is Bob Quigley, and Kevin Merse has held down left guard for three seasons. Scott Wolfe started the season at right guard, but after his injury the position was filled senior Henry Johns.

“They are truly the best bunch of offensive linemen I have coached in my short 15 years in the profession,” said Benson.

Now the question surfaces. Is the emergence of greatness defined through the individuals or through the entire unit?

The Hoyas’ offensive line is a smattering of personalities,but it can be generalized.

“They are all big, strong, have good footwork and are intelligent and nasty at the same time,” said Benson. “They are students of the game who play with great intensity.”

“I think part of the reason we’ve become so close is that we have little in common except a desire to win,” said Tortolani. “There’s no individual statistics for us, so not everyone is fighting to get the ball. There is no clash of egos, and we are a very laid back group of guys.”

Laid-back is a generalization that can be applied to this group, as Tim Breslin, the Georgetown offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, often notes.

“He always tells us we are the loosest group of guys he has ever coached,” said Tortolani.

“We are together so much, and there is so much repetition in the things we do in a practice,” said Quigley, “that we have to keep it light or we will go crazy. We’re always joking around when we’re off the field during a practice session, but we all know that on the field it’s all business.”

Example 1: At the end of Wednesday night’s practice, several linemen returning to the locker room were humming Culture Club’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?”

Example 2: While many football players are screaming in an attempt to psych themselves up before a game, most of the offensive line falls asleep.

It all begins at center and two-time All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference selection Quigley.

“He is a kind of silent leader,” said Tortolani, one of Quigley’s housemates along with Merse and numerous other teammates, “because when he gets on the field, there are no questions asked. He is all business and he is sometimes mean.”

To one side of Quigley is Merse, a Second Team All-MAAC selection during his junior year.

“Merse is definitely the most business like of all of us,” Tortolani said.

At the other guard slot is Johns, a senior receiving field time because of Wolfe’s injury.

“Hank is the brains behind the entire operation,” joked Tortolani. “Wolfe was just a good football player, and Hank is too. Hank keeps us together.”

“Johns is versatile,” said Benson. “He can play all three offensive line positions, and he is our long snapper, which is a coveted ability in college football. He’s smart, reliable, and fits in everywhere. Scott Wolfe was a great football player, and he was just nasty.”

The pivotal left tackle position, which protects senior quarterback J.J. Mont’s blind side, is platooned by Bob Lenihan and Oliver de La Hoz. Lenihan received quality field time as a freshman, and was in the trenches when Mont took his first snap as a Hoya, against Fordham four years ago. De La Hoz and Lenihan have shared duties on the left side for the previous three seasons.

“You could definitely call Oliver the loudest among us,” notes Quigley. “He’s a great guy, always talking about something. We call him the chatterbox. Lenihan is all business. He goes out and just does his job every game.”

Tortolani holds down the right side of the line.

“Off the field, he’s a gentle giant,” said Quigley, nudging his housemate in the next chair, “but on the field, he’s a very aggressive player.”

Greatness is often defined by relationships with others.

The major test of an offensive line is their bonds with the quarterback and tailback, the two men whose lives they are recruited to protect.

“Our line takes great pride in their ability to help us run and pass, and I know J.J has always been confident in his protection,” said Benson. “Rob and the line are close as well.”

Belli was initially going to live in the house with Quigley and Co., but even in a different house, his bond with the boys he runs behind remains tight.

“He pretty much lives at our place anyway,” said Quigley. “We’re all good friends.”

“There is definitely a good relationship between Rob and J.J. and the offensive line,” added Tortolani. “Sometimes there is a little bit of tension because we both depend on each other, but it has never gotten out of control. We have always remained close.”

Another key relationship in the development of the O-Line has been with Breslin, who assumed duties two seasons ago, when the current linemen were sophomores and beginning to receive considerable playing time.

“He has been amazing with the line,” Benson said. “They respect him so much.”

“Coach Breslin is a smart guy and a great coach,” said Tortolani. “The coach before him had his favorites, and since we were freshmen then, we didn’t learn much from him. Even now, Bres is paying less attention to us and paying more attention to the younger guys who have to step up next year.”

In addition to an underclass core of linemen consisting of such future stars as junior James Byington and sophomore Stephen Cook, seven freshman recruits are currently learning the ropes.

“Planned replacement,” said Benson, cracking a smile. “They are a great freshman class of linemen.”

Will they be as great as the ones departing? The answer seems clear to some.

“They are going to be really good,” said Quigley. “We have talked to them a few times. As long as they keep hitting the weight room and studying the game, they should be amazing.”

The current crop of seniors has studied the game, and in the process they have a unique take on the trench warfare of their lives.

“Being a good offensive lineman is a mix of beating the crap out of people and using finesse,” said Quigley. “In our case it is more finesse. We are not a big group of guys. If you look at Fairfield last weekend, they were all [6-foot-4], 300 [pounds]. Our biggest guy is Oliver, and he’s listed at 280. It doesn’t have that much to do with brute strength. It’s about footwork, and pushing guys in the right direction for the play to get done.”

Anything could have happened to end that game had we elected to punt the ball,” said Benson, reflecting on last Saturday’s victory over Fairfield. “We had fourth down and three yards to go, and if we kicked it away, the kick could be blocked. The punt could be returned for a touchdown. We have a bunch of senior guys up front. We needed to dominate. We turned to the offensive line.”

It was three yards. Nine feet and greatness would be realized.

“We came back into the huddle,” Tortolani recalled, “and said ‘you guys wanna do this?’ and we said ‘sure’.”

The Stags lined up in a Bear defense formation, flooding the line in an effort to stop the run. Nine feet ahead the orange pole glistened in the late October sun. Quigley placed his icy fingers on the ball at scrimmage and knelt down, as he had hundreds of times before. He stared ahead. It was different this time.

“Everyone knew what we were going to do,” said Quigley. “It was three yards we had to get. It was gut check time for us.”

And then the snap came. Quigley released the ball into Mont’s hands and drove forward. At the same time four other seniors pushed into men larger than them as Mont scampered backwards and pounded the ball into Belli’s chest. A group of friends, different individuals with one similar goal that has linked them all for three years, had another job to do.

Six yards later, Belli stood up from a heap of tacklers and looked downfield. First down. He ran over to his linemen, patted them all on the helmet. To him it was nothing big. They had been doing it for two years for Belli. To everyone else on Kehoe, it meant much more.

“If I had to pick a play that defined us as a group, yeah, that 4th and 3 last weekend would be it,” said Quigley. “We knocked them off the ball, and we didn’t have to run any more plays. It was over.”

Quigley might have been talking about more than the game. He may have been talking about a long journey towards greatness that eight seniors have been on for three years.