Spring Break
Line veteran Travis Schneider confident in his young peers
By: Brett Sebastian
Issue date: 8/29/08 Section: Sports
While juniors Grimes and Matthews saw game time in six and five games respectively in 2007, freshman Thomas is completely new to the squad.
"It's pretty rare for a guy to come out of high school and start right away, especially on the line," Schneider said. "I know that when I was coming out of high school my head was spinning, so for him to accomplish that is something else."
The switch from former head coach Dennis Franchione's option offense to Sherman's pro style attack also has the potential to bring a breath of fresh air to the line.
"We are going to keep a lot of defenses on their toes," Schneider added. "Now we get to line up and block. Because there is no more option we can be much more aggressive. We have an incredible backfield and if we can do our part our offense should be great."
Still Schneider stressed the team's weakest point, lack of experience.
"We need lots more game experience," Schneider said. "We have three guys [making their first start] and as a team it's all about experience. We still hold ourselves to a high standard and we can't lower that standard just because we lack the experience." ?
Their first test against Arkansas State will not be easy, though. The Red Wolves defense held last year's opponents to only 165 rushing yards a game and allowed only 14 rushing touchdowns.
"Arkansas State's defensive line is still intact," Schneider said. "Last year they almost beat Texas and Tennessee. They returned all four starters and lots of aggressive defenders. Their front seven is good, but we'll be ready for it."
"It's pretty rare for a guy to come out of high school and start right away, especially on the line," Schneider said. "I know that when I was coming out of high school my head was spinning, so for him to accomplish that is something else."
The switch from former head coach Dennis Franchione's option offense to Sherman's pro style attack also has the potential to bring a breath of fresh air to the line.
"We are going to keep a lot of defenses on their toes," Schneider added. "Now we get to line up and block. Because there is no more option we can be much more aggressive. We have an incredible backfield and if we can do our part our offense should be great."
Still Schneider stressed the team's weakest point, lack of experience.
"We need lots more game experience," Schneider said. "We have three guys [making their first start] and as a team it's all about experience. We still hold ourselves to a high standard and we can't lower that standard just because we lack the experience." ?
Their first test against Arkansas State will not be easy, though. The Red Wolves defense held last year's opponents to only 165 rushing yards a game and allowed only 14 rushing touchdowns.
"Arkansas State's defensive line is still intact," Schneider said. "Last year they almost beat Texas and Tennessee. They returned all four starters and lots of aggressive defenders. Their front seven is good, but we'll be ready for it."
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