Since head coach Tim DeRuyter’s arrival in 2012, Fresno State’s unsung heroes have played a vital role to the team’s pair of conference title runs and over that span, have helped fuel breakout seasons for a number of players including Robbie Rouse, Derek Carr, Davante Adams, Josh Harper, Isaiah Burse and most recently Marteze Waller — who rushed for 1,368 yards in 2014.

Powering this year’s offensive line is a triad of seniors that have a total of 73 career starts in left tackle Alex Fifita, center Bo Bonnheim and right tackle Justin Northern.

The three have been playing together since 2013 and last season were part of an offensive line that started every single game together along with former ‘Dogs Cody Wichmann and Sean Rubalcava.

“All three of those guys have played a lot of snaps,” DeRuyter said. “Alex [Fifita] in particular, he’s started for four years. Justin [Northern] has been a three-year starter going into his third year, and Bo [Bonnheim] started all of last year so there’s a lot of game experience there. All three of those guys are great workers and they’re going to set the tone for those younger guys. With an inexperienced quarterback, you better have guys up front that can protect him and I like what those guys have done in camp so far.”

In 2013, Austin Wentworth served as the leader of the group and last season Wichmann — who is now with the St. Louis Rams — was the veteran among the unit. But now the leadership role rests on the shoulders of the three seniors.

“I expect those guys to be leaders and I expect a couple of them to be vying for all-conference honors,” offensive line coach Cameron Norcross said. “But I expect them to be first and foremost leaders of the unit that are going to be able to take us where we want to go as a group.”

While the cohesion is there for the three, there is uncertainty at both of the guard spots, as they are still not yet set in stone with Thursday’s season opener approaching. Norcross said those in the mix competing for the starting spots include junior Jacob Vazquez and second-year players Micah St. Andrew, Aaron Mitchell and Jacob Hicks. Norcross also said Bonnheim could see some time at guard, where he started seven games in 2013.

Communication among the offensive line plays a key role as the unit must identify the defensive front on every play, call it out to avoid confusion and ensure everybody blocks their man in order for the offense to have a successful play. Having the experienced veterans in both the interior and the ends of the offensive line will assist those that end up at the guard spots and make their transition into the starting lineup a little less nerve-racking.

“It’s good that we have seniors all across the front,” Norcross said. “It’s going to help point those young guys in the right direction when they’re in there. The communication flows more freely because you don’t have freshmen next to each other where they’re having to communicate with each other, and then they just don’t talk because they don’t know. But we have someone around each of those guys that’s able to talk.”

Aside from providing leadership, Norcross just wants his guys to use their grit and physicality to wear down opponents and set to set the tone for the offense.

“That’s what I want more than anything, Norcross added. “To be known as a physical and tough group.”