The 2014 version of football’s offensive line has retained experienced players and will be looked upon to help the team carry on its recent success.

The Huskies’ offensive line, arguably one of the deepest in the MAC, returns four of its five starters and several key reserve players from last year’s squad. The group allowed only 0.79 sacks per game in 2013, which ranked second in the MAC and fifth in the nation.

Highlighting the returners are right tackle Ryan Brown, center Andrew Ness, left guard Aidan Conlon and left tackle Tyler Loos, who is healthy after a left leg injury forced him to miss the final five games of last season.

The one starting position needing replacement was at right guard, which will now be handled by senior Tyler Pitt, who played in all 14 games last season, rotating in and out at guard.

The group of Brown, Ness, Conlon, Loos and Pitt has been together since the beginning of the 2012 season and has 101 combined career starts. Head coach Rod Carey said an offensive line being together as long as the players have — this being their third year — is “very rare to see.”

“I’ve never had that in my coaching career where all five have been together for the third year,” Carey said. “I’ve had four in three [years] before, but never all five.”

Carey said the group has looked “good at times,” but he expects the players to never stop improving.

“Now remember, you’re talking to an old O-line coach here, so it’s never good enough for me,” Carey said. “Never ever. There are a ton of expectations for these guys. We have pushed, and we have prodded. They have looked good, and I’m pleased with where they’re at, but they need to take the next step, and they need to hit another color jersey and prove that.”

Brown said the chemistry of the offensive line has continued to improve as the group has played together more over the years.

“Being together for so long helps a lot,” Brown said. “You know what the other guys are going to do. It helps because you know they’re going to be in the right spot every time. You know they’ll be there. It just helps a lot, helps us go faster.”

The offensive line will play a giant role in 2014, blocking and creating holes for the slew of tailbacks that will be sharing the load. Protecting Matt McIntosh, Anthony Maddie or Drew Hare is another responsibility the offensive line will have to take on.

While working with multiple quarterbacks, Brown said “there’s not much of a difference. [There’s] little differences in the cadence and how they say it, but to us up front it’s not a huge difference.”