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Horns' offensive line shows early sparks of strength, improvement By Randy Riggs

Published: 6:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 7, 2012

Trey Hopkins wants to be a doctor when he grows up.

Texas' junior left guard is uncertain what kind of doctor he'll be. An anesthesiologist, perhaps, Maybe a pediatrician.

"All I know," said Hopkins, working toward an undergraduate degree in biology, "is I'll be a medical doctor of some kind."

Mason Walters, Hopkins' counterpart at right guard in the Longhorns' offensive line, can envision that happening.

"He can do it," Walters said. "I know he's a real smart guy, but he's also real personable. You don't see that in a doctor all the time.

"I guess," Walters mused, "Trey would be a good guy to go to if you had the flu."

At the moment, Hopkins is a good guy to go to if you need a block. Back at his natural position of guard after a stint at tackle, he is a mainstay on a rebuilding offensive line for the 17th-ranked Longhorns that continues to be under the microscope. That scrutiny resumes tonight when Texas hosts New Mexico.

Hopkins is one of four returning starters in an interior line that has taken a beating in recent years in just about every category possible — physically, mentally, athletically, public relations-wise, you name it.

It's been brought to the linemen's attention more times than they care to count that they haven't had one of their own drafted into the NFL since Tony Hills in 2008 — a drought that underscores the issues the group has had.

"A lot of us older guys were here during 5-7 (the 2010 season), and we were down," Hopkins said. "We're still in this improvement phase, but we know where we were and how we performed then. We never want to see that ever again."

Under second-year line coach Stacy Searels, improvement is starting to show. With Hopkins back at guard, and with returning starters in Walters, right tackle Josh Cochran and center Dominic Espinosa, and with junior-college transfer Donald Hawkins, the outlook is better.

Depth remains an issue — Texas has two reserves it feels are capable in tackle Luke Poehlmann and guard Thomas Ashcraft. The Longhorns want more, but it's still an improvement over last spring, when Searels had just eight healthy linemen at his disposal.

"I think it gets better every day," Walters said of the depth. "We've got two or three more guys the

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coaches trust to put out there."

Granted, it was far from acid tests it will face later in Big 12 play, but the line showed encouraging signs in the 37-17 season-opening victory over Wyoming. With a pair of 100-yard rushers in Malcolm Brown and Joe Bergeron, the Longhorns ran for 280 yards. Also, the line didn't allow a sack as quarterback David Ash had plenty of time to complete 20 of 27 passes for 156 yards.

"I thought in the second half they got into a groove and kind of settled down," co-offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin said. "There weren't really any issues in communicating. They were a lot wiser when it came to making adjustments."

In Harsin's offense, guards pull a lot. Hopkins, despite packing 301 pounds on a 6-foot, 4-inch frame, is light on his feet and can get to the outside relatively easy.

While Walters said all the linemen graded out well against Wyoming — "Nobody graded out 100 percent," he noted — Hopkins said he enjoyed seeing the rushing numbers put up by the backs, who combined to average 6 yards a carry.

"We're not usually the guys getting all the attention," he said. "But the running backs make it exciting for us. I enjoy seeing them do well."

Almost as much, presumably, as he'll one day enjoy seeing his patients recover from the flu.

Contact Randy Riggs at 445-3957Twitter: @ranriggs

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