Cameron Botticelli might not know it, but his opportunity to move into the Gophers lineup at defensive tackle comes courtesy of ... Appalachian State?
In a way, yes. The walk-on from Milwaukee was only 14 when the Mountaineers marched to a Division I-AA national championship, and probably never suspected that an obscure quarterfinal score -- Appy State 38, Southern Illinois 24 -- would have an impact on his life. But it was in that game that coach Jerry Kill and his staff realized that players like Botticelli are what they need in the middle of the line.
Kill's Salukis featured "big-legged and heavy" players in the interior line, traditional oversized tackles, explained defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys. "Nobody could knock us off the line of scrimmage," Claeys said. But when confronted with Appalachian State's spread offense, "We couldn't catch them," Claeys said. "It didn't matter if we [filled] our gaps or not."
Since that game, "we've changed a little bit. I would rather have a 280-pound guy in there who can run and change direction," he said. "But you need a few more bodies, because they're going to get worn down by all the pounding."
Enter Botticelli. And Austin Hahn. And Eric Jacques and even freshman-to-be Scott Ekpe, already making an impact before his high school classmates have graduated. Along with larger tackles such as Ra'Shede Hageman, Curren Delaney and Harold Legania, all are competing for those mobile run-stopper jobs left vacant by the departure of senior tackles Anthony Jacobs and Brandon Kirksey.
"We're really young, but we're really deep, and there are a lot of good things that come from that," Boticelli said. "Competition breeds success. There's like six or seven of us who are all foaming at the mouth" to earn those jobs.
Hageman is the best known and, at 6-6 and 300 pounds, the most fearsome, especially since the coaches say they see improvement with every passing day. "The first three practices, he's spent a lot of time on the other side of the ball," Kill said, meaning Hageman is forcing his way across the line of scrimmage. That's his best talent, but Claeys said the Gophers need the former Minneapolis Washburn standout tight end to learn the discipline of run containment as well. "When he learns how to," Claeys said, "he can dominate."
Last year, though, Hageman was subbed in only on passing downs. "We took him out of a lot of the running game stuff and just used him [against] the pass and let him go," Claeys said. "In the running game, you've got to be gap conscious. In the passing game ... just get to the quarterback. He used to try to play that way all the time, but he's learned the importance of the gap stuff on the run."
