UGA's offensive line relishes 'misfit' label

Georgia's offensive line isn't ordinary, and they know it.

So starting last year, they started calling themselves the misfits.

"You've got Kolton the sixth year, you've got Pike the lacrosse player," senior tackle John Theus said. "Three redheads. Kublanow's an undersized kid who can never play college football. Our left guard's an undersized kid."

While the group may be misfits, they get the job done and have been among the nation's best through the first three weeks of the season.

Not only have they blocked to the tune of 256.67 rushing yards, the 12th best in the nation and second in the Southeastern Conference, they've also allowed just two sacks all season.

And that means one thing -- ice cream.

Per a UGA tradition, when the starting quarterback goes a game without getting sacked, he takes the offensive line out for ice cream and, since Brice Ramsey was the beneficiary of the sack against Louisiana Monroe, Saturday's game made the second time in three weeks Greyson Lambert has had to dip into his bank account to reward his misfits.

"We went to Ben and Jerry's again," senior Kolton Houston said. "I'm a solid cookies 'n cream guy." For what

it's worth, Houston takes his dog Dixon, a German shepherd, with him to get ice cream they share.

"I go with cookies and cream and I may be a little superstitious but I get the same thing every week because we've been winning," said junior center Brandon Kublanow, who is one of the few who opts for the milkshake instead of a cone.

"I tried three flavors," sophomore guard Isaiah Wynn said. "I had the I Dough, I Dough. I can't (remember) the other one, I had that last time too, and then I got the milk and cookies."

Although Lambert is probably fine reaching into his pockets every now and then if it means keeping his jersey clean, it's not just about the ice cream for the offensive line.

For them, it's about being prideful in their identity and having something to prove.

"I think it's a pride thing," Houston said. "We work every day to be the best offensive line in the country. We pride ourselves, we come to work every single day, we don't have an easy day off during the week so we definitely take pride in that."

But there's a fine line between pride and ego, but that's not an issue for this group either. They outwardly acknowledge that much of their success in the run game can be attributed to the stable of running backs that Georgia has. Even to the point of undermining their own contribution, to a point.

"I fully believe it's our tailbacks," Houston said. "Yeah, we do a good job of getting a hat on a hat We play pretty smart. But I still credit it a lot to our tailbacks. I do think we do a good job and I think we do what we're supposed to do but I think it's the tailbacks who have upscaled us to the next level."

Although humble, the group still strives to be considered the best in the country.

"We want to be the best, there's no doubt about it and that's what we work for, but it's a group effort," Theus said. "The quarterback only getting hit twice (against South Carolina), that's running backs in protection, that's receivers getting open, making the right reads and stuff."

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "UGA's offensive line relishes 'misfit' label ."