Oct. 1, 2007
IOWA CITY – The NFL’s Oakland Raiders should be feeling pretty good about themselves today. They head into their bye week having scored a season-high 35 points en route to their second win in a row in 2007 and are showing signs of being dominant with the running game.
It is easy to argue that some of the Raiders’ success is attributable to the work of four-year starter Robert Gallery, the 2003 Outland Trophy award-winning native Iowan and former Iowa Hawkeye.
After seeing action on the Raiders’ right half of the offensive line his first two seasons as a professional, the 6-foot-7, 325-pound Gallery is back firmly entrenched on the left side of the ball – a place on the playing field that he excelled at while at the UI. And, now that’s he’s back in his comfort zone, the Raiders appear to be getting ready to roll offensively. Consider the statistics registered in Sunday’s 35-17 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Miami:
- The Raiders scored a season-high 35 points by racking up 369 yards of total offense, a total that included more yards gained on the ground (299 yards) than Miami had for the entire game (255).
- The Raiders converted on all four of the trips inside the Red Zone and the two times they faced goal-to-go.
- The Raiders were also an impressive 60 percent in third down efficiency and converted on two of three fourth down attempts.
- And, lastly, the Raiders racked up more than 35 minutes of possession time – 10 more than the home team.
Oakland enters its week off tied with Denver and Kansas City for first place in the AFC West, one full-game ahead of their next opponent, the San Diego Chargers.
Gallery, a unanimous first-team all-American selection his senior year, was the second player chosen in the 2004 NFL Draft. He is one of six former Hawkeye offensive lineman who are currently on NFL rosters.
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