On offensive lines, you've basically got two schemes, said Georgia Tech co-line coach Mike Sewak: You either initiate the contact or you let the defensive line initiate it.

When phrased that way, it sounds like such a no-brainer.

The 2008 Georgia Tech offensive line will not wait for the defense to start the hitting, even when it's a pass play. And what lineman doesn't want to do some hitting?

"I definitely see some enthusiasm there," Sewak said. "We've got to have that as a unit every day. We simply can't have someone be enthusiastic one day, then say that it's someone else's turn today.

"I've seen incremental improvement in technique, but they want this to be their offense. They want to take ownership of this and we're going to push them toward that."

Exactly who will start on the line hasn't been decided.

Fifth-year senior tackle Andrew Gardner and fourth-year junior center Dan Voss are likely entrenched as starters. Joseph Gilbert, AJ Smith and Jason Hill will start or play significant minutes too. Then there's redshirt freshman Nick Claytor and true freshman Omoregie Uzzi, who both should play significant minutes too.

They all are adapting to the more physical, faster tempo offense. Gardner, the leader of the bunch, says he can see a big difference between now and spring.

"It's noticeable how much quicker we are," he said. "I don't think there was any question that we weren't as quick as we needed to be in the spring. Our goal is to be hitting on all cylinders by our first game. Is that realistic? Maybe not. If not, we need to be close enough where we can win and improve and perfect it as quickly as possible."

Gardner said his coaches insist that this will be the best conditioned team in the country. That usually spells trouble for 300-pounders.

"It's been a big adjustment," Gardner said. "It's been a ton more running. I'm basically taking every other rep in practice, and that's a lot, but its getting us in great shape."

Voss said its been tough up to now because players were trying to learn the new system and playbook and were thinking about what they'd learned on the field, instead of being able to go all-out instinctively.

"Things are getting better there though," he said. "The tempo is up and now that people know the playbook, we're starting to go 100 percent."

Voss was looking forward to not snapping to a quarterback in the shotgun formation.

"I'll be firing out a lot more, smashing some people in the mouth, establishing a new line of scrimmage," he said. "In this offense, you've got to have a gung-ho mentality and go out and hit someone. Now, I've got one assignment and one person to hit."

Sewak said the offensive line schemes can't really be learned by studying playbooks or watching film — though he expects his players to do both, of course.

"This really is more physical than mental," he said. "It's on-field repetition. You've got to be down about three-feet, eight-inches every step, bending the knees and using the lower-body balance for power and movement. There will be a few feet wider gap between the linemen than last year and getting the pad level beneath the guy and extending your hand, but powering with your hips is what it's about."

"The scheme is not easy to learn. It is pretty complex," Gardner said. "Obviously there are more types of pass protection options in this one than what we had in our old offense."