Nicks no longer a fill-in on O-line

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

GII

 

Nicks no longer a fill-in on O-line

 

 

 

By Mike Babcock

For The Independent

 

LINCOLN -- Carl Nicks' 3-year-old daughter, Serena, understands, sort of. When she sees a football game on television she can pick him out, most of the time anyway.

 

"She kind of knows, 'Oh, that's my daddy,' " Nicks said recently. "Whenever there's a football game, the NFL, she's like, 'Is my daddy playing?' She kind of has an idea."

 

Nicks hopes to be playing in the NFL in the not-too-distant future. But his immediate concern is Nebraska's Cotton Bowl game against Auburn on New Year's Day.

 

The 6-foot-5, 325-pound junior from Salinas, Calif., is the starting offensive tackle on the right side. He's been the starter for two games, stepping in for an injured Matt Slauson.

 

Actually, Slauson, who suffered a high-ankle sprain against Texas A&M, could have played in the Big 12 championship game. But Nicks earned the job with his play against Colorado.

 

Never mind that Slauson started the first 11 games this season and the final three last season. And never mind that he earned second-team all-conference recognition from the Associated Press. In this system, starters who lose their jobs because of injury lose their jobs, period.

 

"The coaches make one thing clear: Nothing's going to be handed to you. You've gotta earn everything you get," Nicks said the week before the Oklahoma game.

 

"He (Slauson) can't just go, 'Oh, I'm back. I'm going to start again.' He's got to bust his butt like everyone else. Competition's real good. It's just going to get everyone better."

 

Slauson wasn't surprised. He understands. Nicks "did a really, really good job against Colorado," he said. "I was like, 'Oh, man, now I have a little pressure when I come back.' "

 

When he came back, after the Colorado game, he was told to start studying the playbook from an offensive guard's point of view. And that didn't surprise him, either.

 

"I think now they're planning on me being a guard, and they always have," he said.

 

He began pre-season practice at guard before returning to tackle.

 

"Hopefully, I can be a guy who can play both for them in case they need it," said the sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colo. "But they're planning on me at guard for the bowl."

 

At 6-5 and 335 pounds, he would join Nicks to give the line a big right side.

 

Nicks came to Nebraska with great expectations, transferring from Hartnell College in Salinas after beginning his collegiate career at New Mexico State -- as a defensive lineman.

 

Offensive line coach Dennis Wagner indicated he would contribute immediately, and he did, as a back-up. But then he was slowed by a foot problem and seemed to fall off the radar.

 

"In my head, I felt like I could play since day one," Nicks said.

 

However, he needed the opportunity that Slauson's injury provided. Now the coaches "believe in me, too," he said. "Any time you start and play all the plays, you're going to gain confidence."

 

Offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said at last Friday's Big Red Breakfast in Omaha that Nicks was going to be a "fabulous" player, "the kind of guy who can be a dominant player."

 

Because of his experience at New Mexico State, he understood the demands of playing at the major college level when he got to Nebraska. The transition from junior college wasn't as difficult as it might have been. "With athleticism and ability you can get by at the lower levels," he said.

 

"But once you get here, everyone has that. So then what separates you is your technique, work ethic, extra stuff you've got to put in when no one else is willing to."

 

He considers physical play among his strengths. "I think I'm real physical when it comes to the run and the pass," he said. "I'm not just going to hit you and let you go.

 

"I'm going to put your face in the dirt so you look for my number every play."

 

His preference is run blocking "because pass (pro) you're kind of absorbing it, but run (blocking) you're giving it. I mean, you can be as physical as you want, try to rip the guy's head off. That's what I like," Nicks said. "In pass pro when I grab you, it's pretty much a wrap after that.

 

"Running, you just come downhill and smack somebody."

 

After the Colorado game, he talked to Serena, who lives in California with her mom. "She said she saw me hit guys and 'that's not too nice,' " Nicks said. "I guess that's a good thing, right?"

 

A good thing that he was hitting guys because that's what he's supposed to do.

 

And a good thing that his daughter understands what's nice and what's not.

 

[farmerscarlet]

Thanks for the article.