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Bowling Green's offense last year was led by an overall stellar line. The offensive line for the Falcons however, was also extremely young and relied heavily on the few experienced members. Alex Huettel was one of those guys.
Huettel will be a third-year starter for the Falcons this coming season after being redshirted his freshman year. Most recently he was honored as a second team All-MAC guard for his all around solid performance in 2013. Huettel helped the young, right side of the Falcon line and contributed to the 194 yards-per-game that BG averaged on the ground last season. Huettel will look to head a maturing Falcon offensive line this season but from just a slightly different perspective.
The Falcons lost their big center David "The Chief" Kekuewa which leaves about a 310-pound hole in the middle of their offensive line. Huettel will look to fill this void moving forward in the 2014 season. This move shouldn't be too hard for Huettel to make as he has shown himself to be versatile, moving around the offensive line when filling in for injuries.
Huettel started all 13 games in 2012 for BG which helped solidify his starting role for 2013. One of the biggest reasons that Huettel has been successful for BG is the fact that he is consistently healthy and able to stay on the football field. Consistency for the offensive line this year could be the key to the Falcons overall success on offense. Coach Babers runs an extremely fast system and it will be up to the offensive line to stay in game shape to keep up with the pace of the of the skill positions. Look for BG to be rotating many different lineman onto the field this year, but look for Huettel to be the glue that holds this line together.
Huettel is also known as one of the toughest athletes on this BG squad. Most notably, Huettel had the assignment of guarding Pitt first round draft choice Aaron Donald in BG's bowl game last season and he did a good job. Look for Huettel to improve even more this year and come out the season being an All-MAC selection. He is ranked second-team in the preseason by several outlets, but definitely look for him to improve and possibly end up on that first team list by the end of the year.