MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Dana Holgorsen might want to consider having his starting offensive line get off the bus first at big road games this fall.
 
Why? Because these dudes are big - really, really big.
 
The days of having short, squatty offensive linemen to block a spread offense are over. When Holgorsen arrived at West Virginia eight years ago, most of the linemen he inherited were in the 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3 or 6-foot-4 range.
 
Quinton Spain was the big daddy of the group, standing 6-feet-5 inches and weighing 348 pounds before Jenny Craig intervened. He has since put back on what he lost at WVU as the right guard for the Tennessee Titans.
 
When Spain first arrived on campus, people stood in awe at how big he was compared to the other guys standing next to him. He was sort of the king of the little guys.
 
Today, Quinton would merely fit right in with the players veteran offensive line coach Joe Wickline is going to run onto the field when West Virginia kicks off its 2018 season against Tennessee in Charlotte on Saturday, Sept. 1.
 
Wick has got 6-foot-7-inch, 306-pound Colton McKivitz and 6-foot-5-inch, 318-pound Yodny Cajuste at the tackle spots, 6-foot-6-inch, 326-pound Josh Sills and 6-foot-6-inch, 335-pound Isaiah Hardy at the two guard positions, and either 6-foot-3-inch, 325-pound Matt Jones or 6-foot-3-inch, 301-pound Jacob Buccigrossi at center.

When was the last time West Virginia had a pair of 6-foot-6 guards? Probably never.
 
And arriving in June are the Brown brothers, Joe and Michael, or the Brawn brothers considering both weigh 340-pounds-plus!
 
That means West Virginia is going to go through a lot of steak and chicken at the team training table this fall.
 
"You try and get the biggest, best players you can get," Holgorsen explained. "You try and get bigger, faster and stronger at every position, and the one thing about it is we're recruiting a little bit better. We've got kids on campus right now that can make us better."
 
"It's a big, big offensive line," offensive coordinator Jake Spavital added.
 
How big?
 
This year's average height of 6-feet-5 ½ inches matches the last group of offensive linemen Don Nehlen put on the field in 2000, a mere 18 years ago.
 
That was when the Mountaineers were still slugging it out toe-to-toe with the big boys instead of tricking and out-hustling them.
 
That 2000 line featured 6-foot-5-inch, 290-pound Matt Wilson and 6-foot-8-inch, 325-pound Tanner Russell at the tackles, 6-foot-3-inch, 315-pound Terry Dixon and 6-foot-5-inch, 305-pound Brad Knell at the guards and 6-foot-6-inch, 320-pound Rick Gilliam at center.
 
Compare that to Rich Rodriguez's 2006 Sugar Bowl offensive line that had just two players barely weighing 300 pounds - left tackle Travis Garrett and right tackle Garin Justice.
 
When you've got big guys up front that establishes an attitude and a mindset for your football team.
 
Think back to West Virginia's days in the Big East when the Mountaineers faced those massive Virginia Tech offensive lines, or the pre-Big East days when Pitt and Penn State always made it a point to establish the line of scrimmage with their big guys up front.
 
That's what Wickline wants this group to do.
 
"Coach Wickline is big on that," Spavital said. "He wants big guys. We're bringing those two junior college kids in June so you're looking at 330 to 350 across the board, and they're all about 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6, which is a massive offensive line."
 
During last December's Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl game, Utah's bulky defensive line kind of exposed West Virginia a little bit, particularly with Cajuste and senior guard Kyle Bosch out of the lineup.
 
WVU had trouble sustaining drives because the offensive line had a tough time moving the guys in front of them or slowing them down when they went after backup quarterback Chris Chugunov.
 
When you have bigger, bulkier guys, it's easier to move the players in front of them and harder to get around when they are going after quarterback Will Grier. Even if guys are going the wrong way, they're at least moving them.
 
Spavital explains.
 
"The thinking behind that is if we're having trouble with certain things, we know we're going to be smothering guys," he said. "If a guy goes the wrong direction, he's at least going to move the guy in the wrong direction. 
 
"If there is a pass rush, they've got a long way to go to get around a 6-foot-5, 6-foot-6, 350-pound guard. It's just a lot of bigger bodies and that makes it tougher."
 
West Virginia's much bigger offensive line goes in tandem with Spavital's desire of having bigger, more physical wide receivers in the passing game. He now has 200-pounders across the board in receivers David Sills V, Gary Jennings Jr., Marcus Simms and T.J. Simmons, a 240-pound pass catching target in tight end Jovani Haskins and a massive, 270-pound option in senior tight end Trevon Wesco, one of the offensive surprises this spring.
 
With Wesco attached, that gives West Virginia yet another big guy up front capable of moving defenders in tight spaces, something the Mountaineers have struggled with at times in recent years.
 
"We want to get bigger at every position, and I think we're doing that, and we've been trending in that direction the last couple of years," Holgorsen mentioned.
 
It will be interesting to see if all of this additional size will make a big difference in West Virginia's offensive production this year.