Garten Pumps His Way to Top After Beginning at the Bottom : Football: Weightlifting has helped turn the ex-Valencia lineman into an All-American at Colorado.

When Joe Garten was a high school freshman, he could barely bench press 150 pounds.

He was an ordinary-looking 5-foot-10, 180-pound lineman. Size wouldn’t have helped matters much, though. He didn’t know how to play football.

As a senior at Valencia High School, Garten grew to 6-3, 235 and seemed to never miss a block. All the while, the college scouts paid him no mind. They were more interested in the record-setting running back who ran behind him.

Garten got a scholarship to the University of Colorado, though, and started his college career at the bottom. He was redshirted, then worked his way up from third string on the depth chart.

When he earned a spot in the starting lineup as a redshirt freshman, Garten was a nervous wreck. Lining up against an all-conference defensive lineman, Garten wondered if all 50,000 people in the stadium were watching him.

“Would they see my mistakes?” he worried.

They didn’t, because Garten made so few.

He progressed, intelligently, skillfully and, as a junior, the experts tabbed him as a possible all-conference selection before the season.

Garten can laugh when he recalls those times, to those barriers in his football career.

Now, he’s 6-3, 280 and a first-team All-American offensive tackle confidently awaiting the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1. The No. 1-ranked Colorado Buffaloes will play fourth-ranked Notre Dame for the chance to win the national championship, the first in the 100-year history of Colorado football.

Garten laughs, shakes his head and wonders how he got here.

“It’s hard to believe a little kid from Placentia could rise through the ranks and get all these honors,” Garten said. “It’s like a dream come true.”

It’s a dream that Garten continues to pursue. An obsession for weightlifting has produced a mountainous body, one built to move defenders.

Initially, Garten’s passion for weightlifting was a way to keep pace with the athletic achievements of his older brother, Steve, a former player at Valencia and Nevada Las Vegas. Now, it’s become a ritual as important to Garten as watching his step on the often icy Colorado campus.

Earlier this year, Garten bench-pressed a team-best 450 pounds.

“It’s the best for a few years now,” he said.

Garten has also studied his position as if it was the most important midterm he’s ever taken. And in many ways it is.

“I’ve dedicated my life to football and to being the best player I can be,” Garten said.

At the moment, it doesn’t seem Garten could attain more.

He was named first-team All-American by The Associated Press, Kodak and United Press International. He was recently in Los Angeles for the taping of Bob Hope’s Christmas Special, which honors the Kodak team.

Garten has played more downs than any other member of the Colorado offense, which ranks second nationally in rushing with 372 yards a game.

While the Buffaloes prepare for the biggest game in their history, it gives Garten pause to think.

He recalls the past, playing like a “little rug rat” on the dusty Bradford Stadium field at Valencia. He also thinks about his future and the Orange Bowl in Miami.

He also thinks of his teammates, such as quarterback Darian Hagan, the first Big Eight player to pass and run for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

And he thinks of one of his teammates who won’t be at the Orange Bowl.

The well-chronicled story of quarterback Sal Aunese is more than just a possible made-for-TV movie or a lengthy newspaper article to Garten.

Aunese died of stomach cancer earlier this season and the team, and indeed the state of Colorado, has been mourning his death since.

“His last words to us were, ‘Bring home the Orange Bowl,’ ” Garten said. “It’s the last thing we can do for our pal. We tell ourselves we have to play for Sal and not for ourselves. Sal is the one who brought the team together.”

If nothing else, Aunese’s death pointed out the fickle nature of life, even among football players as big as Garten. You can be as strong as an ox, knocking 300-pound men on their backsides one day and unable to tie your shoes the next.

Maybe that’s why Garten is not taking any of his success for granted. He seems genuinely thrilled and surprised by the honors he’s received.

He hasn’t forgotten his roots either. And he hasn’t forgotten there is still much to be conquered.

“You look at yourself and say, ‘I haven’t played my best game yet,’ ” Garten said.

At Valencia, Garten’s zeal for improvement was apparent.

After spending his first season on the freshman team--”Every day was a learning experience,” he said--he moved to the varsity as a sophomore and quickly made his mark.

“I’m telling you, there was no question that he was the toughest guy at Valencia,” Valencia Coach Mike Marrujo said. “He was not a bully, but nobody messed with Joe.”

Garten opened huge holes for running back Ray Pallares, who gained a then state-record 5,398 career yards and attracted most of the attention focused on the Tigers in 1985, Garten’s and Pallares’ senior season.

“Joe blocked everybody he played against,” Marrujo said. “Anybody who says Joe didn’t block them isn’t telling the truth. He was the best lineman I coached.”

Despite earning All-Southern Section honors as a senior, only a few schools--Colorado most notably--were interested in Garten.

Colorado Coach Bill McCartney said the magic words: playing time.

“If you come to Colorado, you’ll play right away,” McCartney told Garten.

Garten was sold.

McCartney kept his promise, and Garten started all 11 games as a freshman. In his sophomore season, Garten was hobbled by a nagging ankle injury but began to stand out among a horde of mammoth Big Eight linemen.

When his junior season began, expectations were high. Garten’s name was among the contenders for all-conference honors. But as Colorado rolled toward its 11-0 record, it became clear that Garten had surpassed the early-season predictions.

Texas, Illinois and Washington fell with resounding thuds in nonconference games. Dennis Brown, an all-Pacific 10 defensive end from Washington was recently asked if he was handled this season.

“Once,” said Brown, a 6-4, 300-pound senior. “Against Colorado.”

Against Garten and his teammates, who beat Washington, 45-28.

Later, the Buffaloes beat conference rivals Oklahoma and Nebraska, and a Big Eight championship, a No. 1 ranking and an Orange Bowl berth were secured.

But, there’s one more goal to be attained--beat Notre Dame.

For Garten, it means whipping Notre Dame’s All-American nose tackle Chris Zorich. Just another hurdle for Garten to clear.

“I’ve always done what I intended to do,” he said.