DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH HAPPE GOES FROM WALK-ON TO STARTER.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer Walking on to a Division I-A football team doesn't necessarily equate to bench-warmer status. Consider Noah Happe's odyssey. He was barely recruited out of Simi Valley Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. High and buried on Oregon State's linebacker depth chart through his redshirt freshman season in 2000. He was a regular contributor on special teams during the Beavers' 11-1 Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl, now sponsored by Tostitos tortilla chips (a Frito-Lay product), is a United States college football game played annually since 1971. Originally, the game was hosted in Tempe, Arizona at Sun Devil Stadium where it remained until 2006. championship team. But Happe never gave up on cracking the starting defense. He's a typical story of the unwanted Mr. Irrelevant "Mr. Irrelevant" is the tongue-in-cheek title bestowed each year upon the last pick of the annual National Football League draft. While the origin of the nickname is obscure, the term's meaning is obvious: the last player selected in the draft is the one most likely to be the first who became someone. Now a junior defensive end, he's one of the Beavers' steady performers entering today's game against visiting UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . ``I definitely fit into that cliche. I came in here after not being recruited from my high school,'' Happe said. ``(OSU (Open Source UNIX) Refers to the Unix variants that are maintained as open source, which were primarily BSD Unix and Linux until Sun made its Solaris operating system open source in 2005. ) wanted me to walk on. I knew if I worked as hard as I could, good things usually come out of that.'' At 6-foot-5, 234 pounds, Happe was too big to play linebacker but a little light to match up with offensive tackles. But his biggest asset - speed - fits the Beavers' swarming defensive mentality. Though he's outweighed by almost everyone he blocks, Happe consistently was in the backfield last season after shifting from fourth-string weakside linebacker to No. 1 left defensive end. He finished with 10 tackles for losses, including seven sacks. Being smaller but quicker gives Happe an advantage when getting around the tackles. He admitted ``a bull rush isn't in my repertoire.'' Nonetheless, Oregon State defensive-line coach Michael Gray For other people named Michael Gray, see . Michael Gray (born August 3, 1974 in Sunderland, United Kingdom), sometimes known as Micky Gray, is an English football player who plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. as a full-back. He wears the number 33 shirt for the club. likes the other things Happe has to offer. ``When you're a walk-on, you're low on the totem pole totem pole Carved and painted vertical log, constructed by many Northwest Coast Indian peoples. The poles display mythological images, usually animal spirits, whose significance is their association with the lineage. Each figure represents a type of family crest. . But he could move and he could do some of the things that we liked,'' Gray said. ``We recruit guys who can run. Noah may be a little bit light. But he's quick enough to get those big guys off of him. He's found a home.'' He was a similarly tough matchup at Simi Valley, where he played everything from defensive lineman to middle linebacker. He also was a dependable tight end. ``He helped us in a lot of places in all phases of the game,'' said former Pioneers assistant coach Scott Veres, now Thousand Oaks' offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator typically refers to the coach on a football team in the National Football League or College football who is in charge of the offense. This position aids the head coach by designing and scripting plays, delegating work to offensive position coaches during . ``We knew he had the ability to get there. And obviously he worked hard to get there. Just looking at him - he was 6-4, about 215 when he had him - you could tell he had the body to put on size.'' Even after losing 22-0 at USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. last week, the Beavers are a promising 3-1 after coming off a frustrating 5-6 season that began with national-championship aspirations. ``I'm a lot happier winning than getting a mad number of sacks,'' he said. And it doesn't hurt to win - as Oregon State did over Fresno State two weeks ago - and score a touchdown. Happe lived the defensive lineman's fantasy when he returned an interception 52 yards for a score. ``When I caught the ball, I was just trying not to get caught. I was amazed a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. that I had the ball in my hands,'' he said. ``That was nirvana.'' HAPPE FILE Name: Noah Happe School: Oregon State Position: Defensive end Year: Junior Local tie: Simi Valley High Career highlights: Started all 11 games as a sophomore in 2001 and was Beavers' long snapper In American football, the term long snapper refers to a player who is a specialized center during punts, field goals, and extra point attempts. His job is to snap the ball as quickly and accurately as possible. on punts, field goals and extra points. Finished with 10 tackles for losses and seven sacks, forcing three fumbles and blocking one field goal. ... Had six solo tackles, four for losses, three sacks and a forced fumble at USC last week. ... Was All-Marmonte League and All-Ventura County as a senior at Simi Valley. CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: Oregon State's Noah Happe (91), who played at Simi Valley High, has gone from a fourth-string weakside linebacker to a top defensive end. Don Ryan/Associated Press Box: HAPPE FILE (see text) |
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