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 BOWLING GREEN, OH - After two years of batting injuries, Ben Bojicic is happy to be healthy and able to contribute to Bowling Green’s football team on the field this fall. And it doesn’t matter he’s been asked to play a new position while a teammate recovers from an injury.
A fifth-year senior, Bojicic will make the 33rd start of his college career Saturday when the Falcons host Wyoming. Both teams are 2-0. Kickoff is at noon at Perry Field.
The first 30 of those starts for Bojicic where at center. This fall he’s moved to left tackle after Kyle Bryant suffered a broken hand. When Bryant is back at full speed, Bojicic will likely move back to center.
“I’ve played center for the past three or four years, so I’m used to it,” Bojicic said. “I’m more comfortable there, making all the calls and being in control.”
Dave Clawson, BG’s head coach, is glad to have a player of Bojicic’s caliber available.
“I love the way he works. He’s a guy who makes the people around him better,” Clawson said. “We’re such a better offensive line when Ben Bojicic is in there.
“Ben is our best offensive lineman ... He could play any one of our five offensive line positions and I think we won’t miss a beat.”
Two years ago Bojicic suffered a knee injury and played in 10 of BG’s 13 games. Last season he played in nine of 12 game as he battled a shoulder injury. He had surgery on the right shoulder and missed spring football. Bojicic is a left-handed snapper.
“It’s great being out there playing, doing what I love to do, especially with the people I get to do it with,” Bojicic said. “I’m 100 percent; I feel great.”
“The last two years for Ben have been tough,” Clawson said. “He has not been able to play as much or at the level he would like to.”
The coaching staff began working with Bojicic at left tackle when drills started in August.
“It was kind of a last-case scenario. Well that last-case scenario happened,” Bojicic said. “The adjustment wasn’t too bad play-wise ... I was fairly confident in what everybody on the offensive line did. I knew the calls; I knew the plays and everything like that.
“It was more or less getting my body in the right position and working in space rather than a confined area like I am at center,” he continued. “At tackle, a lot of times you’re alone.”
Bojicic, 6-feet-5, 295 pounds, said he prepares every week to play both tackle and center.
“I pride myself on knowing both of those jobs and all the corrections we have made for each week,” Bojicic said. “It’s not a problem.”
“To have a guy you can move around is very valuable,” Clawson said. “Ben is everything you want in a football player. He is tough. He is smart. He understands the whole offense.”
With Bojicic at tackle, veteran Chip Robinson is playing center and junior college transfer Dominique Wharton is at left guard.
“We (the offensive line) have all really jelled together as the season has progressed,” Bojicic said. “It’s still early and we still have a lot of work to get done. But so far it’s come along well.”
Bojicic is one of a handful of players remaining who where recruited to Bowling Green when Gregg Brandon was the Falcons’ head coach. Brandon is now the offensive coordinator at Wyoming.
“Absolutely I appreciate the chance they took on me as a redshirt freshman (12 starts in 2008). Not too many offensive linemen get to do that. There’s no question, I’m grateful for that,” Bojicic said. “At the same time I think I’ve grown as a player in my own right.
“I will have been here with coach Clawson longer than I was with coach Brandon.”
A criminal justice major, Bojicic plans to graduate in December. He has do an internship at the prosecutor’s office. He hopes to get a shot in the National Football League,
“I’ll worry about the season first,” Bojicic said.
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