As players have come and gone through the Middle Tennessee football program over the last few seasons, one guy has been a mainstay in the starting lineup.
Redshirt senior Shaquille Huff has played in every game the last three seasons for the Blue Raiders at the defensive tackle spot. He enters this season as the team leader in career games started (26) and is tied for the team-high in games played with 38. If Middle Tennessee makes a bowl game this season and Huff plays every game, he will finish second in school history with 51 games played, one behind Mike Caldwell’s school record of 52.
His production throughout his Middle Tennessee career has given him more experience than maybe any other player on this year’s team, and his dependability will be relied upon heavily with a young linebacking corps behind him this season.
“He’s just very consistent,” MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. “He’s smart, he does what he’s supposed to do and does his job. He’s been healthy throughout his career, and he’s played a position where it’s hard to stay healthy. That’s been an advantage for him.”
Huff has had the fortune of being healthy throughout his college career. He said there really isn’t a secret to how he’s been able to stay in the lineup.
“It comes from my family,” he said. “My mom is a praying woman, my grandma is a praying woman, my whole family is a praying family, so staying prayered up and being healthy off the field has helped me stay healthy a long time.”
Before Huff stepped onto the field to begin his long Blue Raider career, he was a high-schooler at Eastside High School in Covington, Ga. Former Middle Tennessee assistant coach Buster Faulkner first reached out to him about the possibility of becoming a Blue Raider when Huff was a junior.
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