this is an article i found in the OWH this morning
LINCOLN - Steve Octavien feels like a cagey veteran. He's already been through one spring practice season. He knows the defense better than most teammates.
Yet the junior linebacker realizes he's a newcomer in the eyes of fans.
It's those fans - mostly the young generation - that find his "Facebook" and "Myspace" homepages online and drop an encouraging note. Typically, their message includes something about Octavien's sparkling first quarter against Maine, the season opener for Nebraska, the season closer for Octavien.
"They're excited to see me play again," Octavien said.
Octavien shares their anticipation. He played just 12 minutes last fall before suffering a broken fibula and torn ligaments in his left ankle. That rendered his career stat line, which he's had ample time to ponder, static: four tackles, "three solo and like two tackles for loss for a total of six yards." Now the 240-pounder is back at full speed, eager to show that 12 minutes in the September sunshine was just a peek at his potential.
"I feel healthy," he said. "I'm just trying to get myself back in motion."
His injury occurred near midfield on a first-quarter punt return. Octavien was blocking when he spotted a defender from the corner of his eye "flying in" to make a tackle. The Maine player fell on the back of Octavien's ankle.
Octavien, who for two years awaited his Division I performance, collapsed. He remembers laying on the ground, certain something was wrong.
"I was just talking to God. I wasn't questioning Him. Everything happens for a reason."
Octavien walked to the sidelines, hoping his ankle was simply sprained. It wasn't. The next few months passed quickly, he said, especially after team doctors decided to also repair Octavien's ailing right shoulder. The Naples, Fla., native injured his shoulder in high school and played four years with a torn labrum.
The effects of the shoulder surgery still limit Octavien. He just started lifting upper-body weights last week after resting those muscles for more than 20 weeks. He doesn't have the shoulder strength to take on offensive linemen as he'd like. That will come back, he said.
Octavien's athleticism should bolster the improved Blackshirts, which return the entire linebacker corps.
"Everybody knows we're going to have one of the top defenses in the country, if not the best," Octavien said.
After Saturday's scrimmage, Octavien nit-picked the Blackshirts' performance like a coach. Too many big plays, he said. Not as dominating as the spring scrimmage a year ago.
"Right now, we're just taking one day at a time."
Octavien wished he could've played in 2005, but sitting out may have been advantageous. Two years of eligibility remain after he received a medical redshirt. And he was able to observe the defense and its intricacies last fall.
"I had a taste of it," Octavien said. "I already know what to look for."
