Feature: Extra Points with Dylan O'Quinn

Feature: Extra Points with Dylan O'Quinn

Dylan O'Quinn, the starting right tackle for the Cincinnati Bearcats, is one of the key members of the team's offense. He has played in 30 games in his career, including seven starts last season and starting all seven games this year. As one of the most experienced members of the team, the junior from Toledo, Ohio has taken on a leadership role for this offensive line and is trying to leverage that experience on the field for the No. 2 Bearcats. 

Feature: Extra Points with Dylan O'QuinnFeature: Extra Points with Dylan O'Quinn
Dylan O'Quinn is coming off a year where he saw the field in all 10 games and of those games started 7. O'Quinn continues to improve this year and his leadership on that offensive line has been a big part of their success this season. Look for this unit as a whole to continue to open run lanes for Jerome Ford and keep a clean pocket for Desmond Ridder to operate out of.
 
Were you recruited here as a defensive end and tight end or as an o-lineman?
"It started in a grey area when I got recruited because they didn't really tell me, but I knew going into it, based on getting recruited for tackle at other schools, that I was going to be a tackle or on the offensive line in college."
 
The offense is ranked 10th in the nation in scoring, how important is your role and the offensive line's role in getting points on the board?
"I think any good offense starts with the offensive line. It starts with us attacking people up front. Our motto this year is just, "wear people out and once you get to the second half the defense starts to tap out.""
 
You've got Desmond Ridder and Jerome Ford behind you on most plays, they are both veterans and both experienced… How does that change the way you guys do things on the offensive line…does it make it easier on you?
"It does make it a lot easier... we put a lot on Des, and he makes a lot of calls and some calls that we, as the offensive line, should make sometimes, but we trust Des to make those calls. And having a running back like Jerome, it makes it easy to block for him… he can hit holes that other running backs can't hit."
 
What's the group's mentality as a whole. What's the goal every play, every single game? What do you guys work on every day, what's the overall mentality for you guys?
 
"Coach (Fickell) puts this on us every single year, and that is to just wear people out. That starts with a Tuesday and a Wednesday practice, just getting dirty. The offensive line has a motto, it's called "NF Dub," I won't get into detail but that's our motto."
 
You're from Toledo, and so many of you on the roster are from Ohio…do you guys take pride in bringing the Ohio energy here with a lot of you being from the same area?
"I think before Fickell got here there was only 13 guys on the team from Ohio and now I think there is about 50. It's cool because we all grew up playing each other in high school and formed bonds over the years."
 
If you didn't play football, what sport would you play, what position and why?
"Growing up, I thought I was going to play baseball in college and maybe professionally. I played either third or pitch.
 
Did you hit bombs?    
"I did hit a lot of home runs back in the day. I played up until my senior year in high school."
Who would you say is the funniest guy in the offensive line and the most fun to be around off the field?
"There's a bunch of guys on the offensive line that are funny and fun to be around… I would have to say Vinny McConnell. He's just always goofing around, and I don't know if you've seen his twitter back in the day, but he used to have a sensei Curtis account where he'd do a bunch of ninja stuff. He just lightens things up."