Husker_Power
Starter
By Mike Babcock
sports.desk@theindependent.com
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LINCOLN ‹ Credit Matt Slauson with Lydon Murtha's Mohawk haircut.
"He did it up good," Murtha said of his roommate near the end of the first week of the Nebraska football team's training camp. His words were as much question as statement.
Murtha is among a half-dozen or so players who began camp with Mohawks. His was probably the most extreme, however, Slauson having shaved both sides of his head.
After all, Murtha has a reputation among teammates for extreme, though harmless, behavior.
"I do wacky stuff all the time," the junior offensive tackle said.
The wacky stuff usually has a purpose, though, the Mohawk for instance. "I try to lighten things up as much as I can," he said. "It can be a real downer out in this heat. We get down, even myself; I tend to sometimes get stressed out from the heat and then the grind we're doing.
"We're practicing harder than anybody. You've got to take it serious, but sometimes you've got to lighten up the attitude a little bit, have some fun with the players, kind of relax."
Even without the Mohawk, Murtha is imposing, at 6-foot-7 and 316 pounds on this particular day, anyway. He expects to play at 312 this season, seven pounds more than his listed weight.
Murtha has played a lot the past two seasons as a part-time starter at left tackle. Now he's playing right tackle, and in a position to discard the "part-time" designation.
The transition from left, where senior Carl Nicks has settled in, to right has been easy. "Left tackle and right tackle, as far as play calling it's exactly the same," said Murtha.
"Just the right tackle is, I would say, more the brute tackle. I've just got to be real strong. I'm strong right-handed. I'm pretty solid and pretty quick, and I think I'll play really well on that side."
His confidence reflects a change in attitude, or at least in focus, that occurred last season. He played in every game, starting three times, against Missouri, Colorado and Auburn.
"I had really good flashes of playing time. I played really well, but this year it's going to be a whole other story," he said. "I think I've just made a 180."
He's more focused than in the past, he said. "I've improved my strength, stamina and quickness. I know the game now. I know all the assignments. It's just second nature now."
Offensive line coach Dennis Wagner saw the change "midway through the season last year. If you look at how Lydon played, I mean, Lydon played a lot the second half of the season. And he had a tremendous spring," Wagner said. "I think he's right where he should be.
"People forget that he's just a junior. And he's a very good football player."
He was supposed to be that. He was the 2003 Gatorade Player of the Year in Minnesota as a senior at Hutchinson High School, and ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Lemming rated him as the top offensive tackle prospect in the nation. As such, he was a prime figure in Bill Callahan's first recruiting class.
Despite the accolades, however, he might not have understood how good he could be, and by his own admission, he probably didn't understand what it would take to get there.
For one thing, he's "a lot stronger," Murtha said. "That's all I've been working on for the last six months, my strength and speed. I have the mental part of the game down now.
"I think working on my speed and strength the last six months ... I'm telling you what, the strength program here has helped me so much, how hard they've been conditioning us, working us. It's just a lot different than in the past. They've emphasized that they want us to go all the way."
There's nothing wacky about that.
sports.desk@theindependent.com
LINK
LINCOLN ‹ Credit Matt Slauson with Lydon Murtha's Mohawk haircut.
"He did it up good," Murtha said of his roommate near the end of the first week of the Nebraska football team's training camp. His words were as much question as statement.
Murtha is among a half-dozen or so players who began camp with Mohawks. His was probably the most extreme, however, Slauson having shaved both sides of his head.
After all, Murtha has a reputation among teammates for extreme, though harmless, behavior.
"I do wacky stuff all the time," the junior offensive tackle said.
The wacky stuff usually has a purpose, though, the Mohawk for instance. "I try to lighten things up as much as I can," he said. "It can be a real downer out in this heat. We get down, even myself; I tend to sometimes get stressed out from the heat and then the grind we're doing.
"We're practicing harder than anybody. You've got to take it serious, but sometimes you've got to lighten up the attitude a little bit, have some fun with the players, kind of relax."
Even without the Mohawk, Murtha is imposing, at 6-foot-7 and 316 pounds on this particular day, anyway. He expects to play at 312 this season, seven pounds more than his listed weight.
Murtha has played a lot the past two seasons as a part-time starter at left tackle. Now he's playing right tackle, and in a position to discard the "part-time" designation.
The transition from left, where senior Carl Nicks has settled in, to right has been easy. "Left tackle and right tackle, as far as play calling it's exactly the same," said Murtha.
"Just the right tackle is, I would say, more the brute tackle. I've just got to be real strong. I'm strong right-handed. I'm pretty solid and pretty quick, and I think I'll play really well on that side."
His confidence reflects a change in attitude, or at least in focus, that occurred last season. He played in every game, starting three times, against Missouri, Colorado and Auburn.
"I had really good flashes of playing time. I played really well, but this year it's going to be a whole other story," he said. "I think I've just made a 180."
He's more focused than in the past, he said. "I've improved my strength, stamina and quickness. I know the game now. I know all the assignments. It's just second nature now."
Offensive line coach Dennis Wagner saw the change "midway through the season last year. If you look at how Lydon played, I mean, Lydon played a lot the second half of the season. And he had a tremendous spring," Wagner said. "I think he's right where he should be.
"People forget that he's just a junior. And he's a very good football player."
He was supposed to be that. He was the 2003 Gatorade Player of the Year in Minnesota as a senior at Hutchinson High School, and ESPN recruiting analyst Tom Lemming rated him as the top offensive tackle prospect in the nation. As such, he was a prime figure in Bill Callahan's first recruiting class.
Despite the accolades, however, he might not have understood how good he could be, and by his own admission, he probably didn't understand what it would take to get there.
For one thing, he's "a lot stronger," Murtha said. "That's all I've been working on for the last six months, my strength and speed. I have the mental part of the game down now.
"I think working on my speed and strength the last six months ... I'm telling you what, the strength program here has helped me so much, how hard they've been conditioning us, working us. It's just a lot different than in the past. They've emphasized that they want us to go all the way."
There's nothing wacky about that.
