Editor's note: This is the eighth in a series of stories previewing the Boise State football team by position. Tomorrow: Special teams.

Rebuilding the Boise State football team's offensive line has been a multi-part process.

The linemen honed their techniques in the spring, packed on some much-needed weight in the summer and identified their top five players in fall camp.

Now they have one more step: Learn to dominate.

The Broncos, who posted their worst rushing numbers in five years last year, want to re-establish the defense-buckling ground game that was a building block of most of their WAC championship teams.

"I want to continue to develop their mentality - that's the big thing, that confidence," offensive line coach Scott Huff said. "Playing together and really figuring out what it's all about to be a dirt dog and get after it and wear people out and know that you really dominated your opponent, that's a mentality they've got to experience on their own."

The Broncos will open the season Thursday against Oregon at Bronco Stadium with the same line that was together for the second half of fall camp - junior left tackle Matt Slater (seven starts), junior left guard Will Lawrence, sophomore center Thomas Byrd (12 starts), junior right guard Kevin Sapien (nine starts) and freshman right tackle Michael Ames.

The backups include sophomore left tackle Nate Potter (eight starts), who likely will get some game action and continue to compete with Slater, and sophomore right tackle Garrett Pendergast (one start), who played center, guard and tackle last year.

That depth, more than anything, has Huff optimistic about his line - for this year and beyond. The Broncos don't have a senior lineman.

"It's not like in the past where we maybe had six guys," Huff said. "We've got nine, 10 guys who can all play. ... There's no one getting comfortable. The twos, they're all good players and they're only going to get better. I don't feel like guys have peaked. They're still young, they're still inexperienced, there's still a lot of good things that could happen."

The linemen got a taste of what's possible the past couple weeks, opening some holes against the Broncos' WAC-best defense. Sophomore Doug Martin rushed for 88 yards in the second scrimmage.

"Once you start to run the ball like we have been, it starts to get a lot more fun in practice," Slater said. "... We want to run the ball. It's that pride thing. You want to know you can stuff the rock down anybody's throat no matter what."

The line often was criticized last year as the Broncos struggled to run the ball against stout defenses. However, some of those problems should have been expected - the Broncos were young and light up front, and they needed 11 starting combinations in 13 games because of injuries, disciplinary action and ineffectiveness.

This year's group is still young - but three of the starters have significant experience and all of the starters weigh at least 280 pounds. Three regular starters were under that weight last year.

The group showed some potential last year by allowing just 13 sacks, ranking fourth in the nation.

"It takes them awhile to develop," Huff said of offensive linemen. "It's a different position than a corner or whatever - between the weight and the technique and the body control. ... It's taken some time to get there."

The Broncos will find out quickly how far they've come. Oregon puts a premium on stopping the run.

"If you want to win football games, you've got to run the ball," Sapien said. "... We've got to run the ball better - and it starts with us."