By PETER SCHLEHR
SID Emeritus

TOWSON, Md. - Eric Pike, Towson's 6-5, 298 pound junior offensive tackle, finally convinced himself it would be okay to play football when an administrator made a passing remark to him the first day of school in his freshman year at DuVal High.

“Our vice principal came over to me at the lunch table and said that if I wasn't already on the football team I should be because of my size,” Pike said. “You have a little more time for things once school is in session because of the schedules so I thought I could work it in.”

Pike had delayed his football career to help out at home.

“I wanted to play but I felt very strongly about my family situation,” Pike said. “My mother is a single parent. I had my little sister, and now my little brother, so I was always in the house looking after them, making sure they were taken care of. The chance to play just didn't present itself until high school.”

Since then, Pike has been the starter at offensive tackle in just about every game he's ever played. He'll make his 24th consecutive career start for Towson this Thursday when the Tigers open their 2012 season at Kent State under the lights in Dix Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet Plus.

Expectations for Pike and his Tiger teammates are high following last year's storybook turnaround that produced a Colonial Athletic Association championship and a first-ever appearance in the NCAA FCS playoffs tucked into a final 9-3 record, reversing a miserable 1-10 season the year before.

“All the success we had in the past is in the past,” said Pike. “Our focus is on what's ahead.”

Staring at Pike and his offensive line mates in the immediate future is a formidable Kent State defense that ranked 21st in the 2011 FBS statistical rankings. Five Golden Flashes were named to the Mid-American Conference post-season defense including junior Roosevelt Nix, one of the premier defensive tackles in all of college football. Nix is a two-time All-MAC first team selection whose 17 tackles for losses tied him for 13th nationally last season.

Pike is going to see a lot of Nix on Thursday night.

“It's like coach (Rob Ambrose) says it's not about them it's about us,” said Pike. “Whether it's Kent State, William & Mary or LSU, it doesn't really matter. We're taking this one game at a time.”

As the left tackle, Pike plays down his key role in protecting Towson's quarterbacks from blind side harm. “We're all important,” he tells you.

Last year Pike and his cohorts gave up 23 sacks, less than two per game. Four of those were delivered at the hands of the Maryland Terrapins. Not bad stats for a team that averaged 67 offensive plays a game, put 57 touchdowns on the scoreboard and tallied a program record 418 points.

As efficient as the passing attack was last season, the ground game was the envy of the CAA as a pride of Tiger runners, led by consensus All-American Terrance West (1,294 yards, 29 TD”s), punched in 38 rushing touchdowns.

That kind of offensive balance is an interior lineman's dream and it's making for a pleasurable college football journey for Pike. “I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than where I am now,” he said.

A visit from former Tiger, Jermon Bushrod, the All-Pro offensive left tackle in his sixth year with the New Orleans Saints, further convinced Pike of that decision.

“Every time anybody asks me what player I admire most the answer is always the same – Jermon Bushrod,” Pike said. “The fact is he came from Towson, he was in the same shoes I'm in and he received the same coaching I'm getting. When we had an opportunity to work out with him a couple of springs ago (right) we heard from him the same rules and techniques that we get every day from coach (John) Donatelli. That gave us all more confidence in the coaching we're getting here to know that Jermon Bushrod and Coach Donatelli are on the same wave length.”

In addition, a big part of Pike's experience stems from the relationships he's formed with his teammates, especially the interior linemen.

“I'm going to have a connection with these guys for the rest of my life,” Pike said. “It's a brotherhood. We treat each other like family. Everybody is taking care of everybody else.”

And that's a part of life Eric Pike knows a lot about.