Nick Moore Talks Football

Senior wide receiver Nick Moore tripled his output last season and finished 2007 with 60 receptions for 731 yards and 8 touchdowns. Expectations for Moore are high in 2008. Nick, one of the team captains, recently talked to Rocket Digest about the upcoming season.

Nick Moore came to Toledo in 2005 as the "little brother" of one of the greatest Rocket receivers, Lance Moore. Lance had just shattered the UT single season receptions record in the fall of 2003, and Nick signed with Toledo in the 2004 recruiting class.

Nick redshirted in 2004 and got to experience college life with his brother, who was a senior in 2004. Then in 2005 it was time for Nick to shine. He proved that he was more than just Lance Moore's "little brother" with 24 receptions for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman. Nick, all 6-4 of him, quickly grew his own identity and stepped out of his brother's shadow.

As a junior last season Nick decided to take his brother's old jersey number, #1. Whether it was the jersey number or just the fact that he was finally reaching his potential, Nick tripled his output from 2006 and finished the 2007 season with 60 receptions for 731 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Rocket Digest reporter Karl Rofkar recently talked to Nick about the upcoming season.

Nick told me they've been working hard and have high expectations for this year. Nick told Rocket Digest, "Coach came in and told us at the first team meeting that we were picked 4th in the MAC West, and we're just not having any part of that."

Nick feels that the offensive line has been working hard and is going to be a good group. This is good news as the Rockets need to replace a great one in left tackle John Greco, who is now in the NFL.

The ease with which Moore and Stephen Williams were clicking on timing and routes with QB Aaron Opelt on day one of practice showed that they've been working together over the summer, and Nick said that's absolutely true. "Summer's a big part of that," said Nick. "We come out every day, working on the timing, getting everything down together, working hard on everything we do."

And it's not just the starters working with the starters. They work with everybody, knowing, as Nick said, "anybody can go hurt at any time, so we have to have timing and everything down with our 2nd quarterback too." Let's just hope that extra practice does not have to be tested this year!

Asked how he feels out there after just a couple of August practices, Moore said, "I feel real good. It's only the second day and it already puts a smile on my face, the kind of chemistry we have together."

With the attention that Stephen Williams will grab on the other side of the field, expect Nick Moore to have a huge senior season for Toledo.

Keep checking in with Rocket Digest over the coming days as we continue to bring the best coverage of Rocket athletics with more coverage and features of current Toledo athletes and prospects for potential future recruiting classes.