Lincoln, NE - With all the position battles taking place on the field for the Huskers, maybe one of the most important is the one for offensive tackle. Right now it is a four-way battle between Jeremiah Sirles, Brent Qvale, Andrew Rodriguez and Tyler Moore.
“Competition right now is really good,” said Moore. We’re all battling for the top spot and everything, they’re really talented and have been here for a while, so it’s going to be a good battle.”
Even though Moore is the youngest of the three, the others are juniors, he doesn’t think that should matter much. In fact, Moore feels like he is a veteran player himself.
“I feel like a veteran because I came in early and everything,” said the sophomore. “So even with my class I feel like I am an older guy. All the older guys still look at me like I am a young guy though because I am only 19, but I feel like a veteran, I have been here for almost four semesters so I am comfortable now.”
The confidence and comfort he shows probably comes the amount of playing time he received as a true freshman last year. He made history last year becoming the first true freshman to ever start the season opener on the offensive line.
Although he admits he had his struggles last year, he believes that he is much improved and will do better than last year, in part because he is now at one position and not having to play both tackle spots.
“First couple weeks I probably didn’t handle it the greatest,” said Moore. “Went a little down, but after that, once we got to Michigan State, I started working hard and taking a lot more reps, since we had injuries and everything. I got to practice more, learn more, and get a lot more reps, so that really helped.
“Its very, very difficult,” he said about playing both tackle spots. “You have to learn both sides of the ball, and both techniques. On plays, you have to learn to step with your left and your right, you have different angles and everything, and also in your head you have to flip it, so the first couple times I would hear a play and go the way I had to go on the left side instead of the right side.”
Although it was a difficult experience having to play both tackle spots, in the end it probably will help him out because it gives him a lot more versatility than someone who just played one spot.
- Josh Harvey -