Chock-Full of Blocks : Offensive Linemen at Northridge Given Their Dues by Grateful Backs Whom They Serve and Protect

It is never difficult to find an offensive lineman in a locker room.

One must simply follow his nose. The smell of sweat and mud leaves a trail. Stench from the trenches.

Playing the line on a football team is one of the grimiest jobs in sport. While quarterbacks, running backs and receivers--the “skill” position players--try to avoid making contact with the ground, a lineman left standing on a given play is the subject of ridicule.

You throw your body in the path of a frothing, 250-pound defender and, ideally, when you pull your face away from the dirt your quarterback still has a helmet covering his head. It is thankless work.

When a lineman’s name is used, it is usually in vain. “Oh, if Joe Sluggo could have made that open-field block, it would have been a touchdown.” A job well-done means someone else’s name is a headline in the morning paper.

Those who play on the Cal State Northridge offensive line know this well. Anonymity has become part of their job description.

Last season, tailback Mike Kane was an All-American and the offensive player of the year in the Western Football Conference. Meanwhile, one Northridge lineman was named first-team all-conference, while another was on the second-team.

Last week in a 56-36 victory over Southern Utah State, Northridge had 504 yards total offense and, again, all anyone could talk about was the tailback and the quarterback.

“It bothers me at times that we don’t get any attention, but it’s something you learn to live with,” said Lou Murino, a soft-spoken, 6-foot, 6-inch, 277-pound tackle.

Tony Palamara, a junior college All-American as a tight end at Saddleback College, echoed Murino’s sentiments. Palamara was switched to guard last season at Northridge, but he doesn’t miss being a high-profile receiver.

“If they’re doing well in the games, it’s because of us,” Palamara said, referring to the offensive backs. “We know we’re doing good when they’re doing good.”

It should be noted, then, that three Matador running backs are among the top seven rushers in the WFC. Against Southern Utah, quarterback Rob Huffman completed 16 of 21 passes for 261 yards and 2 touchdowns and later was selected the conference’s offensive player of the week.

“When our backs are doing good and our quarterback has time to throw the ball, only the people who understand the game of football can really respect what’s happening on the line,” Murino said.

Count Huffman and Albert Fann, Northridge’s top rusher, among them.

“I think all the backs know that the offense starts with the O line,” Huffman said. “If we’re having a good game it’s because of them.”

Fann, a freshman who has rushed for more than 100 yards in five of CSUN’s seven games, has already learned that it’s smart to share credit with those who block for him.

“I always remember to mention my line because they’re all my support,” he said. “If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t be making all the yardage we are. They have one of the hardest jobs, if not the hardest, on the field, but nobody notices.”

With the possible exception of opposing coaches.

Terry Malley, whose Santa Clara team plays the Matadors on Saturday night at North Campus Stadium, said line play was the difference when Northridge won last season’s game, 38-32.

“That was the only game last year that we went out and got just physically beat up,” Malley said. “They did whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to do it.”

Murino, Palamara and all-conference center Brian Clark were members of the line that bullied the Broncos. Tackle Bruce Ferguson and guard Dean Allman are newcomers.

“We have a good mixture of leadership, experience and intensity,” Coach Bob Burt said.

The leader of the line is Clark, a team captain.

“I’ve never been around a guy like him,” Huffman said of Clark. “He’s a perfect role model as a football player and a person.”

Clark, a senior, knows the blocking schemes of every position on the line. “He could play tackle or guard right now and be the best,” Huffman said.

Huffman, an All-American at Glendale College last season, said he has played on teams with linemen who went on to earn major college scholarships, but that they weren’t any better than the players he now sets up behind.

“I think all of these guys could have gone big time,” Huffman said. “They came to Division II so they could play right away. I have friends that went big time and they’re sitting on the bench or redshirting. These guys are playing and doing a great job.”

Fann said what he admires most about the CSUN linemen is their intelligence.

“You think they’re all muscle and all physical, but those guys are some of the smartest guys on the team,” Fann said. “They have to know how to read defenses in split-second time and learn a lot of blocks. And they hit that sled. It’s not fun to hit that sled sometimes.

“They’re the last ones to get credit, so when I get a chance I try to give them some.”

And should he suffer a momentary lapse of memory, the linemen are there to remind him.

“We joke about it,” Murino said. “I say, ‘Hey, Al, you want to get some more of those yards?

“How about a dinner?’ ”