But on Monday, the absence of Thornton meant an added shuffling of the offensive line.

The most obvious switch came when senior Graham Pocic, who had been lining up at left guard, stepped in at right tackle. That flipped Michael Heitz to the left tackle spot that Thornton had been occupying. Alex Hill lined up at left guard and redshirt freshman Ted Karras started at right guard. Jake Feldmeyer was still the starting center.

"Today Pocic was playing tackle because of some situations, but we're going to play our best five (on the offensive line)," Beckman said. "Luckily, our schemes are simplified so that players can play different positions, but we'd rather have Graham playing at center or guard."

Tupper