Nebraska Huskers: Suh, Hickman Look To Lead On Senior Day
11/20/2009 06:48AM
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Jacob Hickman is just a day away from playing his final home game as a Nebraska Cornhusker, and after four years in Lincoln, the senior center joked that he wants to throw just one cut block on NU defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh before he leaves.
Hickman has had to go head-to-head against the multi-award candidate every day at practice for four years, but getting Suh’s number on the practice field is hard to come by.
“It’s been awhile,” Hickman joked. “Sometimes you can get him running, and he trips over someone, and you can say that you got him. It’s like playing with fire, though. You can only do it so much before you get burned by him.”
Suh and Hickman are two seniors who will stand among 11 others Saturday night in their final game at Memorial Stadium. A shot at reaching the Big 12 Championship Game one last time will be on the line.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s going to be my last game here at Memorial Stadium, but I’m definitely eager to have it be such a big game,” Suh said.
The run for a division title began early for Suh and Hickman. The two talked in the late summer when the season was fast approaching about how they wanted to lead this team. Neither of them were overly outspoken and preferred to lead by example.
But once they hit the practice field early in the fall, they discovered the best way to motivate their teammates was to compete fiercely against one another.
“Every time you get a chance to go against (Suh), it makes you better,” Hickman said. “As far as leading, it’s more of an example thing. If we go hard against each other every time, it shows that anyone could and should be attacking anyone.”
Both defensive tackle Jared Crick and offensive lineman Mike Smith have spoken at length about being able to learn from the two leaders. Smith has been alongside Hickman for the last three years, while Crick has learned from Suh for the past two seasons.
Next year, both said they can only hope to be as effective at leading on and off the field like Suh and Hickman have been.
“Suh and I have talked quite a bit about next year,” Crick said. “We don’t want to talk about it too much, but it’s something that needs to be talked about – how I am going to need to step up and fill Suh’s shoes. He’s shined a light on it for me, and he’s given me a couple pointers.”
Hickman passed the torch to Smith in a similar fashion.
“We’re going to need somebody to be like (Hickman) after this year,” Smith said. “We’ll need to just look back at things he did in certain situations. If I could take one thing away, it would be to be able to perfect the offense like he has.”
Offensive line coach Barney Cotton said his center might be more knowledgeable than anybody else on the field, which has allowed him to be the leader he is.
“He’s very smart,” Cotton said. “He’s extremely intelligent football-wise. He understands what all five guys are doing, and probably what the tight ends are doing. He might even know the routes, but I haven’t asked him.”
Suh receives similar praise. Although the touted defensive tackle hasn’t been putting up big numbers lately, it’s what he does fundamentally that stands out to his teammates.
Suh’s awareness and field smarts have allowed him to be a factor on almost every play. Frequently, Suh can be seen both defending passes and rushing the passer on any given play. Suh has also displayed an ability to recognize screen passes before they happen, allowing him to hit running backs for minimal gains nearly every time.
Hickman said sometimes being known as the smart, old guy on the team can be fun because it gives his teammates something to joke about with him. But he doesn’t see himself the same way.
“I’m a 4-year-old,” Hickman said. “Get me in a room by myself with just the guys and give me a couple cat toys and I’d be fine. I have the attention span of a 4-year-old, so it’s pretty easy for me to be entertained.”
Both Hickman and Suh will have one last chance to entertain Husker fans Saturday night.
They both have had trouble putting their Nebraska careers into words as they head into Senior Day against KSU, but Cotton could promise one thing about his star center in relation to Suh – he joked that Hickman better not achieve his goal of getting a good cut on Suh.
“As an offensive lineman, you’d like to knock down guys,” Cotton said. “Here, we like to take care of our players, so I don’t know if Jake will get the chance to do that before he’s gone.”
spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com