Former Viking Eike jumps into fray for Texas A&M
By ROBERT CESSNA
By ROBERT CESSNA
Evan Eike watched several games at Kyle Field as a youngster, cheering with his parents for their alma mater. He then played there as an offensive lineman for the Bryan Vikings, matching up against crosstown rival A&M Consolidated.
But nothing matched what he experienced Saturday night.
The redshirt freshman started his first collegiate game for the Aggies at right offensive guard.
"I was just filled with excitement," said Eike as he relived hearing the 78,691 fans cheer when the Aggies took the field. "It was an awesome feeling."
A&M raced to a 14-3 halftime lead as the Aggies rushed for 124 first-half yards, but Arkansas State rallied for an 18-14 victory.
"It was a lot of fun," Eike said. "It was everything I expected it to be. Obviously, I'm a little disappointed in the outcome, but just the experience in general, it was awesome."
A&M added only 9 net yards rushing in the second half because of four sacks for minus 30 yards. The Aggies' three running backs combined for 162 net yards on 29 carries with only 4 lost yards.
"I think I played well," Eike said. "We had a pretty good game up front as a unit."
The offensive line's lack of experience was one of the reasons the Aggies were picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 South.
Junior center Kevin Matthews and junior right guard Lee Grimes also made their first starts. Eike, Matthews and Grimes joined senior offensive tackle Travis Schneider, who has 16 career starts, and junior left tackle Michael Shumard, who has six career starts.
The group allowed four sacks. That's the most A&M has allowed since Texas had four sacks in the Longhorns' 40-29 victory in 2005.
Eike thought he got better with his foot work in run blocking as the game progressed, but pass blocking is the area he needs to work on the most.
Eike competed with freshman Brian Thomas throughout fall camp and wasn't named the starter until the day before the game.
"After Wednesday's practice, I had a pretty good idea," said Eike, who had a strong second half of fall camp.
Juniors Vincent Williams and Robbie Frost were also in the mix, but Eike and Thomas spent much of the last two weeks of fall camp splitting time at right guard with the first unit.
"Competition helps anyone get better," Eike said. "You push one another. Brian is a good athlete. You can't ask for any more than competition with another good athlete. I think it makes both of us better."
Eike had to miss a few days of training camp just as he was about to work with the first unit. He suffered a mild concussion, then his grandfather died.
"Any injury is tough," Eike said. "You just want to work as hard as you can to get back on the field as quick as you can. And it's kind of tough with head injuries. It's not like an ankle where you can get out there and tough it out."
The 6-foot-4 high school all-stater played at 315 pounds at Bryan High. He spent last season getting quicker and stronger and played this Saturday at 300.
He also tried to learn as much as possible last season from four senior starters -- Corey Clark, Kirk Elder, Cody Wallace and Chris Yoder -- and block out the distractions surrounding former head coach Dennis Franchione.
"We kind of put all the coaching stuff aside," Eike said. "I really took the opportunity to learn from the older guys ahead of me. I played a couple of different positions and learned from Cody and Corey Clark, Kirk and all those guys. I had time to get better physically and just get ready for when my chance came to play."
Eike's first 19 plays as a starter went well, but then the Aggies failed to score in their last eight possessions.
"It definitely was tough, but it's behind us," Eike said. "We just have to look forward to New Mexico and just get better every day."
New Mexico will present another challenge to the offensive line. The Lobos, who like to blitz, allowed only 319.9 yards per game last season, ranking 13th in the country in overall defense.
"[They have a] very aggressive defense," A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. "Getting guys on the right guys is a issue, and I do have concerns about that going into this ball game."
Sherman, a former offensive lineman, said he'll grade the unit as a group, and all five components will have to work as one.
"I think we can be as good as we want if we can stay injury-free and get a group that jells together," Eike said. "We have to work together, which I think we can. We just have to push ourselves."
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NOTES -- Eike is the fourth redshirt freshman offensive lineman to start a season opener for A&M this decade, joining Alex Kotzur (2003), Chris Yoder ('04) and Yemi Babalola ('05).