Now Troy’s senior center and a four-year starter, the lineman from Lake City, Fla., was pressed into action immediately.
“He started out of necessity and he only weighed about 265 pounds playing guard,” head coach Neal Brown said, wincing as he recalled that the Trojans faced North Carolina State, Wisconsin and Mississippi State on the road in the first five games.
It could have been a disaster for any freshman offensive lineman. It wasn’t good, but it was far from a disastrous. Some weeks he held his own, other weeks he looked like a 265-pound guard.
“It really wasn’t fair for him.