DaMarkus Lodge scores touchdown against UT Martin. (File Photo ARIEL COBBERT)
Reality set in a year ago for Damarkus Lodge when Head Coach Hugh Freeze approached him about redshirting the 2015 season. He didn’t like it, but it spawned an important realization for the then-first-year wide receiver.
“I think around this time last year it really set in about the end of fall camp. When he gave me the option redshirt or not, I knew that I had to get myself ready,” Lodge said. “I had to grow up and mature.”
Though Lodge elected not to redshirt, it brought him down to earth. He played sparingly in eight games with the reserves and on special teams. It wasn’t an unusual year for a true freshman. But in a day and age in which high-profile recruits receive national attention before they even arrive on a college campus, stepping out of the spotlight can be hard and often discouraging.
“Coming in highly recruited and having to step down a bit, it kind of took a toll on me,” Lodge said.
He was forced to watch, but he was never disengaged. He learned and took note of the guys playing in front of him. He knew he wasn’t ready to play at this level yet, but made sure that wouldn’t be the case in his next season.
“But now I took that offseason,” Lodge said. “I got into the playbook very hard, worked out very hard and took a couple of learning tips that I learned from Laquon (Treadwell), and I think I’m ready now.”
He had the luxury of watching an eventual first-round pick at practice every day and in games. Treadwell was one of the best in college football, and Lodge took notice.
“Just hard work. You can’t just go out onto the field and catch 100 balls a day,” Lodge said. “You have to go into the film room and watch film for hours. You have learn coverages, learn defenses, what that defender is going to do and how he plays. It’s a lot.”
Now, when he goes into the film room, don’t expect him to leave any time soon. Lodge says he usually stays for three hours if not longer.
“I think the other night me and Chad (Kelly) watched film for like five hours straight, Florida State film just getting ready,” Lodge said.
He said he took last year as a wake-up call as well as a time to develop, and his head coach has taken notice.
“I think he’s maturing nicely as a teammate, as a person and I’ve been really pleased with his performance,” Freeze said.
Freeze said he and Lodge had several one-on-one meetings over the course of the last year.
Lodge said he knew he had to prove himself if he wanted to play this fall, and he’s done just that.
“He’s not going to put me out there on the field if he can’t trust me,” Lodge said. “So, I knew the only way I could go out there and make plays is if I got myself right mentally.”
He’s part of a talented and versatile receiving corps that’ll be one of the Rebels’ biggest strengths offensively in 2016.
“Just the little things. Being consistent, big explosive plays and getting more of those,” Lodge said. “We’re all different in our own way. I think I take the ball at its highest point. I think I’m a student of the game.”
