Husker_Power
Starter
By Mike Babcock
For The Independent
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LINCOLN Near the end of Nebraska's training camp a year go, Shawn Watson asked Andy Sand to switch positions. Their exchange went something like this, according to Sand.
Watson: "We need a third fullback."
Sand: "Well, OK, I'll give it a shot."
The exchange was brief and to the point. "I mean, it wasn't my choice," Sand said following practice on Thursday. "They just kind of asked me to do it. I was willing to do it for the team."
Watson is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach now, but he was coaching the tight ends then. Sand, a walk-on from Lincoln, had been a tight end his first three years.
He also was a tight end at Southeast High, as well as a defensive end, the position at which he earned Super-State recognition as a senior on the Knights' Class A state championship team.
The 6-foot-2 Sand weighed 200 pounds, tops, when he walked on. He weighs 240 now, though he's officially listed at 230, the weight at which he played during the spring.
He worked hard over the summer to increase his weight. Had someone told him when he arrived that he would ever weigh 240, he would have said no way. "Seriously, I never thought I'd get this big," he said. "I didn't think I had a chance because it was so hard for me to put on weight at first."
He credits strength coach Dave Kennedy and Nebraska's nutritionists.
The additional weight and muscle are essential for "iso" blocks, a fullback staple. "Iso blocking can be a pain once in a while, going against big guys coming full-speed," said Sand.
"It's you and him in the hole, so that was the biggest change from tight end."
The "him" in the hole is typically a linebacker, middle or weakside, with both players having 4 or 5 yards to build momentum before the violent, one-on-one collision.
The fullback, which has been eliminated from many offenses, is "an extension of the offensive line. We're just blocking every play, for the most part," Sand said. "We get out on a few pass routes, but there's not a whole lot of glory in it. I still take pride in it. I think it's a great job.
"It's always been a great tradition, the fullback at Nebraska."
Sand is competing with junior Thomas Lawson, another walk-on, to follow in that tradition. Senior Matt Senske, who also walked on, would be in the mix, too, if not for a back problem that sidelined him during spring practice and kept him off the training camp roster of 105.
Dane Todd, a Sand teammate at Southeast, was the Cornhuskers' starting fullback the past two seasons, earning first-team all-conference recognition from the coaches in 2006.
"I learned a lot from Dane last year," said Sand.
Sand is a business administration major and like Todd, he has been successful off the field as well as on, earning a place on the Big 12 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll seven times.
Also, like Todd, he doesn't mind the anonymity of playing fullback, nor does he mind having to wait for an opportunity. The last couple of years "I was waiting for my turn. I knew it would come eventually and finally this year I get my shot," Sand said. "It was well worth it to finally be in this position."
It's not the position he figured it would be when he walked on. But when Watson approached about becoming a fullback, he agreed to switch. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.
Because it wasn't as much an offer as it was a request.
For The Independent
LINK
LINCOLN Near the end of Nebraska's training camp a year go, Shawn Watson asked Andy Sand to switch positions. Their exchange went something like this, according to Sand.
Watson: "We need a third fullback."
Sand: "Well, OK, I'll give it a shot."
The exchange was brief and to the point. "I mean, it wasn't my choice," Sand said following practice on Thursday. "They just kind of asked me to do it. I was willing to do it for the team."
Watson is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach now, but he was coaching the tight ends then. Sand, a walk-on from Lincoln, had been a tight end his first three years.
He also was a tight end at Southeast High, as well as a defensive end, the position at which he earned Super-State recognition as a senior on the Knights' Class A state championship team.
The 6-foot-2 Sand weighed 200 pounds, tops, when he walked on. He weighs 240 now, though he's officially listed at 230, the weight at which he played during the spring.
He worked hard over the summer to increase his weight. Had someone told him when he arrived that he would ever weigh 240, he would have said no way. "Seriously, I never thought I'd get this big," he said. "I didn't think I had a chance because it was so hard for me to put on weight at first."
He credits strength coach Dave Kennedy and Nebraska's nutritionists.
The additional weight and muscle are essential for "iso" blocks, a fullback staple. "Iso blocking can be a pain once in a while, going against big guys coming full-speed," said Sand.
"It's you and him in the hole, so that was the biggest change from tight end."
The "him" in the hole is typically a linebacker, middle or weakside, with both players having 4 or 5 yards to build momentum before the violent, one-on-one collision.
The fullback, which has been eliminated from many offenses, is "an extension of the offensive line. We're just blocking every play, for the most part," Sand said. "We get out on a few pass routes, but there's not a whole lot of glory in it. I still take pride in it. I think it's a great job.
"It's always been a great tradition, the fullback at Nebraska."
Sand is competing with junior Thomas Lawson, another walk-on, to follow in that tradition. Senior Matt Senske, who also walked on, would be in the mix, too, if not for a back problem that sidelined him during spring practice and kept him off the training camp roster of 105.
Dane Todd, a Sand teammate at Southeast, was the Cornhuskers' starting fullback the past two seasons, earning first-team all-conference recognition from the coaches in 2006.
"I learned a lot from Dane last year," said Sand.
Sand is a business administration major and like Todd, he has been successful off the field as well as on, earning a place on the Big 12 Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll seven times.
Also, like Todd, he doesn't mind the anonymity of playing fullback, nor does he mind having to wait for an opportunity. The last couple of years "I was waiting for my turn. I knew it would come eventually and finally this year I get my shot," Sand said. "It was well worth it to finally be in this position."
It's not the position he figured it would be when he walked on. But when Watson approached about becoming a fullback, he agreed to switch. It was an offer he couldn't refuse.
Because it wasn't as much an offer as it was a request.
