John Mabry: Fullback Todd gets his moment
No complaining in the North Stadium. You got an up-close look at history Saturday.
Dane Todd doesn’t score touchdowns every day, or any day before Saturday.
“It’s been a long five years waiting for it,” he said. “I’m glad. Now they can’t ever claim I wasn’t here.”
Probably wouldn’t have been a problem. The senior fullback is an Academic All-American, for one thing. He’s also a heck of a blocking back.
He deserved a moment in the sun, even if that moment came in the rain, on a 1-yard pass from Zac Taylor late in the first quarter.
“It’s just one of our standard plays,” Todd said. “The tight ends caught a couple of touchdowns on that exact same play last week. It was nice.”
Yep. It’s nice being Mr. Touchdown.
“It felt even better than I thought it would,” he said. “It’s fun. It’s fun being out there with all my friends, playing the game, contributing.”
I know young receiver Maurice Purify is turning heads, but look out for Taylor’s new favorite target.
“Dane’s my go-to guy,” Taylor said. “He’s going to be my third receiver. I’m going to go to him every play I can.”
Running backs coach Randy Jordan said it was great to see Todd score, but Jordan was more impressed with the Lincoln Southeast grad’s shake-and-bake moves on an 8-yard grab in the second quarter.
“The thing I’m more proud of,” Jordan said, “was when the brother caught one in the flat and made a couple moves and got the extra yardage.
“He’s so unheralded as a player that a lot of the stuff he does goes unnoticed.”
The big stuff is making straight A’s in the classroom and providing leadership for the entire running back corps. Jordan and the I-backs call him “Coach Todd.“
Roles were reversed on Todd’s 8-yard gain when star I-back Marlon Lucky provided a big block to give Todd some extra running room.
“I’m just proud of all my running backs right now,” Todd said. “Marlon did a great job on that block. I saw him in the corner of my eye flying across. I’m just glad he can return the favor once in a while.”
End zone
* I know the overcast skies had something to do with it, but I did notice clearer scoreboard displays throughout the stadium and a smoother tunnel-walk presentation. I did not see out-of-town scores at all, though, and I checked for them regularly. That would drive me nuts in the stands.
* NU’s kickoff coverage early in Saturday’s game will not cut it against USC.
* Good to see third-stringer Beau Davis get a few snaps at quarterback. “It was fun,” he said. “I wish I had a chance to throw the ball a little bit, but the situation didn’t really allow it.”
Davis, by the way, is from the L.A. area and actually played in a high school state championship game at Memorial Coliseum, site of next week’s NU-USC game. “It’s a big stadium,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of people in there.”
* Todd had a good quote on whether it was tough to get fired up to play Nicholls State. “We just like playing football,” he said. “We only get so many opportunities to play games, and this was another opportunity for us, and we enjoyed it.”
* No looking ahead to the Troy game.
Reach John Mabry at 473-7320 or jmabry@journalstar.com.
Dane Todd doesn’t score touchdowns every day, or any day before Saturday.
“It’s been a long five years waiting for it,” he said. “I’m glad. Now they can’t ever claim I wasn’t here.”
Probably wouldn’t have been a problem. The senior fullback is an Academic All-American, for one thing. He’s also a heck of a blocking back.
He deserved a moment in the sun, even if that moment came in the rain, on a 1-yard pass from Zac Taylor late in the first quarter.
“It’s just one of our standard plays,” Todd said. “The tight ends caught a couple of touchdowns on that exact same play last week. It was nice.”
Yep. It’s nice being Mr. Touchdown.
“It felt even better than I thought it would,” he said. “It’s fun. It’s fun being out there with all my friends, playing the game, contributing.”
I know young receiver Maurice Purify is turning heads, but look out for Taylor’s new favorite target.
“Dane’s my go-to guy,” Taylor said. “He’s going to be my third receiver. I’m going to go to him every play I can.”
Running backs coach Randy Jordan said it was great to see Todd score, but Jordan was more impressed with the Lincoln Southeast grad’s shake-and-bake moves on an 8-yard grab in the second quarter.
“The thing I’m more proud of,” Jordan said, “was when the brother caught one in the flat and made a couple moves and got the extra yardage.
“He’s so unheralded as a player that a lot of the stuff he does goes unnoticed.”
The big stuff is making straight A’s in the classroom and providing leadership for the entire running back corps. Jordan and the I-backs call him “Coach Todd.“
Roles were reversed on Todd’s 8-yard gain when star I-back Marlon Lucky provided a big block to give Todd some extra running room.
“I’m just proud of all my running backs right now,” Todd said. “Marlon did a great job on that block. I saw him in the corner of my eye flying across. I’m just glad he can return the favor once in a while.”
End zone
* I know the overcast skies had something to do with it, but I did notice clearer scoreboard displays throughout the stadium and a smoother tunnel-walk presentation. I did not see out-of-town scores at all, though, and I checked for them regularly. That would drive me nuts in the stands.
* NU’s kickoff coverage early in Saturday’s game will not cut it against USC.
* Good to see third-stringer Beau Davis get a few snaps at quarterback. “It was fun,” he said. “I wish I had a chance to throw the ball a little bit, but the situation didn’t really allow it.”
Davis, by the way, is from the L.A. area and actually played in a high school state championship game at Memorial Coliseum, site of next week’s NU-USC game. “It’s a big stadium,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of people in there.”
* Todd had a good quote on whether it was tough to get fired up to play Nicholls State. “We just like playing football,” he said. “We only get so many opportunities to play games, and this was another opportunity for us, and we enjoyed it.”
* No looking ahead to the Troy game.
Reach John Mabry at 473-7320 or jmabry@journalstar.com.
Copyright © 2002-2008 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.