Center set to anchor NSU line

“We’ve got some quality guys, some size, too,” center Jason Kressen said of Norfolk State’s offensive line Tuesday on the Spartans’ first day of practice. GENEVIEVE ROSS | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By VICKI L. FRIEDMAN, The Virginian-Pilot

NORFOLK - A heat advisory was in effect Tuesday morning, and Jason Kressen couldn’t have been hotter.

Or happier.

It was the first day of practice for the Norfolk State football team, and it was, by Kressen’s estimation, the warmest in his five years with the Spartans. But what a feeling.

“I really missed football,” said Kressen, who took every snap at center in 2004 and 2005 before missing all of last season recovering from a knee injury he sustained in spring ball.

Since then, Kressen has had two surgeries to repair chronic dislocation in his left knee. And like so many players sidelined for so long, he gained more of a hunger for the game.

He’s ready. And so, he said, are the Spartans. They’ll don shoulder pads for the first time today and go to full pads Friday. Two-a-day practices begin Saturday, with the first scrimmage scheduled for 3 that afternoon.

Like many of his teammates enduring the unforgiving sun as the coaches barked orders, Kressen believes this is the Spartans’ year. It’s a sentence he’s said before, but this time it’s got some weight behind it.

“These young guys definitely are the best offensive line recruiting class we’ve had in a long time,” said Kressen, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 301 pounds. “We’ve got some quality guys, some size, too.”

Sitting out wasn’t fun. But it was educational.

The redshirt senior out of Nansemond River High endured the blowout losses that characterized the 2-19 Willie Gillus era. Optimism surfaced when Pete Adrian took over the program in 2005, an attitude Kressen carries with him, given the type of losses that dropped the Spartans to 4-7 last year. Four of NSU’s defeats came by nine points or fewer.

“The guys last year had a chance to experience tough losses. It’s not a good feeling being on the edge of being a good team,” Kressen said. “We can benefit from that because we’re not going to let it happen again.

“One thing I noticed today, even with it being this hot, is everybody is more in shape. It already looks like our offense is really clicking. We haven’t had that.”

Part of the reason for that is that NSU missed Kressen, who realized he was done after he attempted one preseason practice and barely was able to walk off the field. Reserve Brandon Nance became the full-time center when Kressen couldn’t go last year.

“It hurt because Jason is one of the best centers in the league,” Adrian said. “Jason is one of the offensive linemen who can knock you off the football and create movement, where Brandon will get into you but can’t move you but still block you. It hurt the running game a little bit because you’re not getting any movement.”

With Nance having improved with each of the 10 games he played – he missed the finale with an injury – and with a healthy Kressen back, the running game and quarterback Casey Hansen can’t help but improve. Hansen, who rooms with Kressen, led the MEAC in total passing yards a year ago with 2,166, but he also tossed 16 interceptions.

“I feel a lot more comfortable; the offense is a lot more reaction now,” Hansen said. “I didn’t play with him last year because he was hurt, but during this summer camp, we’re going to become the 1-2 punch.”

Kressen said Hansen stepped into a difficult role last season, and he doesn’t expect a repeat of that this fall. Kressen sees his role as protecting Hansen, not just in the pocket, either.

“We talk about anything,” he said. “If he’s got something to talk about, we talk about it. If there’s problems, I’ll straighten it out for him.”