Football coaches, media and even fans like to talk about how many “touches” an offensive player will have in a game. Touches, as in how many times a particular player will get their hands on the football.

So when UW-La Crosse opens its 2008 football season today against Hardin-Simmons, who will be the main “touch” man who could turn those touches into touchdowns?

Andrew Gebel

No, you can’t pick quarterback Griffin Moe. He touches the ball on every play from scrimmage. However, a good pick might be rocket-footed Eric Donoval, the Eagles’ starting tailback. Or, you might throw out the name Tyler Keeney, a wide receiver who has the “go-to player” kind of potential.

Nope, it’s neither one of them.

The man with the most touches tonight — besides Moe — will be senior center Andrew Gebel. And believe it or not, Gebel’s importance in this game will rank just as high as Moe’s, or Donoval’s, or anyone else on the offense. If Gebel and the offensive line — tackles John Carley and Tyler Smith, along with guards Cooper Wage and Jason Olejniczak — don’t perform well, it’s highly possible the running game and the passing game won’t either.

No pressure, said the 5-foot-11, 270-pound Gebel, a senior from Oshkosh West. He’s ready. In fact, he’s been ready for some time. Ready to make the blocking calls for the line, ready to hike the ball, ready to protect Moe, or open holes for Donoval and fullback Chris Johnson.

Ready to get smacked — and probably deliver a little smack — 60 or 70 times tonight.

“I have played center my entire life. I played center in pee-wees to high school to now,” Gebel said. “There is a lot going on. You get used to it.”

While most fans understand that a quarterback has to make a lot of reads — there’s that football “lingo” again — when it comes to figuring out what defensive formation the opposition is in, whether they might blitz, whether they are going to stunt, so does Gebel.

If he makes the wrong read, and in turn, calls for the wrong blocking assignments, his quarterback could be digging a sod clump from his helmet. That’s not a good thing for the quarterback, or the team.

It probably means lunch courtesy of the quarterback next week is canceled, too.

So when Gebel breaks the huddle, he’s probably not thinking solely about the snap count, or who is directly in front of him. He’s breaking down how many linemen Hardin-Simmons has up front, where their linebackers are positioned, and where a weakness — any weakness — might be.

“I shout out the line calls, and the guards make their calls depending on what my call was,” said Gebel, who estimates there are between 15 and 20 different blocking, or line calls, that he chooses from. “The key is not to make the wrong call because there are four other players making a call based on your call.”

UW-L coach Larry Terry has a few calls of his own to make in tonight’s game. Overall, he believes the Eagles are ready for Hardin-Simmons, and said the team has handled the fact that their home-away-from-home this season — Winona State — is just another football field.

“There is some anxiousness, some nervesnous, more so from making sure everything comes together,” said Terry, who spent much of Friday’s walk-through practice making sure everyone knew what unit they were on, and where they were supposed to be.

“What’s satisfying for me is watching guys like (defensive coordinator) Jeff Conway come into their own, or watching the seniors step into leadership roles. It’s exciting to see guys step up and fill out the team.”

And, as Gebel knows, it’s exciting to make the right call.

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